Sensex Crashes 719 Points, Last 30 Minutes Trigger Sharp Sell-Off Across Market

Mumbai: For most of Monday’s trading session, the Indian stock market appeared relatively stable despite mild weakness. However, the final 30 minutes completely changed the mood on Dalal Street.

Selling pressure intensified sharply after 3:00 PM, catching many investors by surprise. What looked like a manageable decline quickly turned into a broad market sell-off.

By the closing bell, the Sensex had plunged 719 points, or 0.97 percent, to settle at 73,524.26. The Nifty 50 dropped 243.70 points, or 1.04 percent, to close at 23,123. Both benchmark indices ended near their lowest levels in almost two months.

Heavyweights Triggered The Fall

The sharp decline began with aggressive selling in some of the market’s biggest stocks.

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Mahindra & Mahindra witnessed strong selling pressure during the final phase of trading. Since these stocks carry significant weight in the benchmark indices, their decline dragged the broader market lower.

Reliance Industries fell more than 2 percent and extended its losing streak to the ninth consecutive trading session. As Nifty slipped below the important 23,200 level, selling accelerated further.

Rising Oil Prices Added To Concerns

Another major factor behind the weakness was the surge in crude oil prices.

Brent crude hovered near USD 97 per barrel, raising concerns about inflation and India’s import bill. Higher oil prices typically hurt oil marketing companies, leading to sharp declines in stocks such as IOC, HPCL and BPCL, which fell by as much as 4 percent.

Metal And IT Stocks Under Pressure

Metal stocks emerged as the worst-performing sector of the day. Nalco declined nearly 4 percent as concerns over global demand and commodity prices weighed on sentiment.

The IT sector also failed to provide support. The Nifty IT index closed lower for the fourth consecutive session, while TCS dropped around 2 percent, reflecting weakness in global technology stocks.

Broad-Based Selling Across Market

The selling was not limited to large-cap stocks. The Midcap Index fell 849 points to 59,906, with stocks such as Prestige Estates, SAIL, Muthoot Finance and Kalyan Jewellers witnessing sharp declines.

Market breadth remained weak, with nearly three stocks falling for every one stock that advanced on the NSE. Out of the Nifty 50 constituents, 40 closed in the red.

Despite the broad weakness, CPSE and healthcare stocks managed to end in positive territory, showing that investors continued to prefer defensive and government-backed sectors.