Mumbai, March 19 The benchmark stock indices, Sensex and Nifty, plummeted by over 3 per cent on Thursday as a sharp increase in crude oil prices and weak global trends, amid escalating strikes on energy infrastructure in West Asia, unnerved investors.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 2,496.89 points or 3.26 per cent – its biggest single-day plunge since June 2024 – to close at 74,207.24. During the day, it dropped by 2,753.18 points or 3.58 per cent to 73,950.95.
The 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 775.65 points or 3.26 per cent to end at 23,002.15.
Among the 30 companies in the Sensex, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and Bajaj Finserv were among the major losers.
HDFC Bank fell by 5.13 per cent after its chairman, Atanu Chakraborty, resigned, citing ethical concerns.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, soared 6.75 per cent to USD 114.8 per barrel after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar, as well as two oil refineries in Kuwait.
Iran intensified its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours' energy sites on Thursday, hitting a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and setting Qatari LNG facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on its main natural gas field.
In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended significantly lower.
Markets in Europe were trading with deep losses. The US market ended sharply lower on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,714.35 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 3,253.03 crore.
On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 633.29 points or 0.83 per cent to close at 76,704.13. The Nifty surged 196.65 points or 0.83 per cent to end at 23,777.80.