Indian stock market saw a blood red day, with equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty plummeting over 2 per cent, in response to the global markets as the Middle East war showed no signs of abating.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dived 1,836.57 points, or 2.46 per cent, to settle at 72,696.39. The 50-share NSE Nifty tanked 601.85 points, or 2.60 per cent, to end at 22,512.65.
As per the exchange data, on Friday, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,518.39 crore. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 5,706.23 crore. Foreign investors have pulled out Rs 88,180 crore (about USD 9.6 billion) from Indian equities so far this month.
As peer PTI, rupee breached the 94/dollar barrier for the first time, slumping 50 paise to a new record closing low of 94.03 (provisional) against the greenback. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.11 per cent lower at USD 113.4 per barrel in futures trade.
What caused the major plunge in stocks?
The Middle East war, which has entered its fourth week and shows no signs of respite, has caused a rise in crude oil prices. This has resulted in a huge foreign fund outflow and made the rupee tumble to new lows, making investors risk-averse.
"Domestic markets witnessed a sharp decline, mirroring weakness across Asian markets amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Investor sentiment turned cautious following Trump's 48-hour ultimatum to Iran on the Strait of Hormuz," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, to PTI.