There are mornings when the opening bell on Dalal Street sounds less like the start of a trading day and more like a warning siren. Monday, March 23, 2026, was one of those mornings.
The BSE Sensex plunged over 1,842 points, or roughly 2.3 per cent, in early trade, while the NSE Nifty dropped nearly 585 points to trade around 22,530 levels.
The fall is broad-based as all 16 major sectors declined on the NSE, and the broader small-cap and mid-cap indices each fell more than 3 per cent.
By 10.30 am, the Sensex had hit a low of 72,690.52 while the Nifty hit a bottom of 22,529.05 points.
The US-Iran conflict, now in its fourth week, kept global oil markets on edge. Brent crude climbed to around $113 per barrel, which added pressure on India, one of the world's largest oil importers.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of India's energy imports travels, remains under threat of disruption, a scenario that rattled Indian markets as recently as last week when two Indian LPG tankers navigated the strait under fire.
As per reports, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have sold close to ₹90,000 crore worth of Indian equities so far in March, putting the month on track for the heaviest monthly foreign outflows since October 2024. On Friday alone, FIIs offloaded ₹5,518.39 crore worth of equities. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) partially absorbed the blow, buying ₹5,706.23 crore on the same day, but it has not been enough to hold the market.
The Indian rupee slid to a record low on Monday, eclipsing its previous record hit just last Friday, compounding the anxiety for import-dependent sectors.
Two giants slump
Adding to the Middle East storm, two Indian bluechips are nursing their own injuries. HDFC Bank continued its value slump, sliding as much as 4 per cent on Monday, extending a two-session drop triggered by the abrupt resignation of part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty over ethical concerns last week.
State Bank of India also fell more than 4 per cent, after receiving a ₹6,337 crore income tax demand from the IT Department for the assessment year 2024.
