Mumbai, February 19 The benchmark Sensex fell by 1,236 points or 1.5 per cent, while the Nifty closed near 25,450 on Thursday, following a broad sell-off amid escalating geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran.
Halting a three-day winning streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 1,236.11 points, or 1.48 per cent, to close at 82,498.14.
The 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 365 points, or 1.41 per cent, to close at 25,454.35.
Among the Sensex constituents, IndiGo, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Trent, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, ITC, Eternal, and PowerGrid were the major decliners.
"The bears took control of the Indian market as rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran unsettled global sentiment, leading to a broad-based sell-off," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd.
He added that Brent crude surged to its year-to-date high, exacerbating inflationary concerns and triggering heightened market volatility due to the fear of the Strait of Hormuz bottleneck.
"At the same time, uncertainty surrounding the US Fed's rate-cut trajectory and continued weakness in the INR impacted the domestic market. The sell-off intensified due to low FII participation due to the Lunar New Year holiday across key Asian markets and a non-settlement day due to a regional banking holiday in India," Nair said.
Meanwhile, Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 1.02 per cent to USD 71.07 per barrel.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi settled 3 per cent higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark closed 1 per cent higher. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China remained closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
European markets traded lower in the mid-session. The US equity market closed in the green on Wednesday.
Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,154.34 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors were also net buyers of stocks worth Rs 440.34 crore, according to exchange data.
On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 283.29 points to close at 83,734.25, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 93.95 points to close at 25,819.35.
