It was a heavy day for investors and traders as Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 2 per cent, reflecting a clouded market sentiment.
The trading session saw a widespread sell-off with the 30-share BSE Sensex falling 1,456.04 points, or 1.92 per cent, to settle at 74,559.24 and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 436.30 points, or 1.83 per cent, to end at 23,379.55.
Reasons for the stock market crash:
The sharp decline in the equity benchmark indices for the fourth consecutive session can be seen as a market reaction to the uncertainty surrounding the West Asia conflict, along with the spike in crude oil prices.
Apart from this, the recent comments made by PM Modi on the call to use petroleum products with restraint and to avoid buying gold for at least a year, took a hit on the market's confidence.
"Investors are increasingly interpreting recent policy messaging and austerity-oriented commentary as an indication that policymakers may be preparing for a tougher macroeconomic environment ahead," says Hariprasad K, Research Analyst and Founder, Livelong Wealth, to PTI.
Among the stocks that tumbled badly were the IT and realty stocks, as concerns of AI disruption grew stronger.
"The decline was broad-based, led by IT and realty stocks. IT stocks underperformed as concerns grew around AI-driven pricing pressure and potential disruption following recent enterprise adoption initiatives by OpenAI," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.
From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan and Bharat Electronics were among the major losers. Meanwhile, State Bank of India was the only gainer from the Sensex stocks.
According to PTI, realty dropped 4.22 per cent, Focused IT (3.61 per cent), services (3.51 per cent), IT (3.37 per cent), consumer durables (3.35 per cent) and industrials (3 per cent). Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 2.75 per cent higher at USD 107.1 per barrel. Rupee depreciated 35 paise to close at an all-time low of 95.63 (provisional) against the US dollar.
