Stock market crash today: BSE Sensex and Nifty50, the Indian equity benchmark indices, plunged in red on Monday. While BSE Sensex tanked by 600 points, Nifty50 went below 22,000 level. At 9:54 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 72,031.55, down 633 points or 0.87%. Nifty50 was at 21,874.20, down 181 points or 0.82%.
According to an ET report, the decline was primarily driven by weakness in the auto and IT sectors, as well as heightened volatility due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.The India VIX, a measure of market volatility, surged by 14%.
Major laggards on the Sensex included Tata Motors, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Maruti, NTPC, Reliance Industries, and Power Grid. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, HUL, and Kotak Bank managed to buck the trend and post gains at the opening bell. Tata Motors shares were particularly hard hit, falling over 6% as the company expects domestic passenger vehicle demand to weaken in the first half of fiscal year 2025 due to the ongoing elections.
On a positive note, JK Cement opened 6% higher after reporting a 101% year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of FY24. However, the overall sectoral performance remained weak, with Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank declining by 2.5% and 2.1%, respectively.
Experts attribute the recent FPI selling to a shift in stance from “sell China, buy India” to “sell India, buy China,” driven by the outperformance of Chinese stocks and the relative high valuations of Indian equities.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, believes this trend is likely to be short-term, triggered by the cheap valuations of Chinese stocks. Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, expects the Nifty to remain within the 21777-22232 range in the near term.
Global markets presented a mixed picture, with Chinese blue chips reaching a seven-month high and the MSCI Asia-Pacific index (excluding Japan) remaining flat after hitting a 15-month high last week. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were little changed, following a rally in the previous week driven by strong company earnings.
Foreign investors continued to be net sellers in the Indian market, offloading shares worth Rs 2,118 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors net bought Rs 2,710 crore in stocks. FPIs have been sellers in 23 of the last 28 sessions.
In the commodities market, oil prices extended their declines due to signs of weak fuel demand and comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials that dampened hopes of interest rate cuts. The Indian rupee opened flat at 83.51 against the US dollar, while the dollar index remained stable at 105.31.
According to an ET report, the decline was primarily driven by weakness in the auto and IT sectors, as well as heightened volatility due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.The India VIX, a measure of market volatility, surged by 14%.
Major laggards on the Sensex included Tata Motors, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Maruti, NTPC, Reliance Industries, and Power Grid. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, HUL, and Kotak Bank managed to buck the trend and post gains at the opening bell. Tata Motors shares were particularly hard hit, falling over 6% as the company expects domestic passenger vehicle demand to weaken in the first half of fiscal year 2025 due to the ongoing elections.
On a positive note, JK Cement opened 6% higher after reporting a 101% year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of FY24. However, the overall sectoral performance remained weak, with Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank declining by 2.5% and 2.1%, respectively.
Experts attribute the recent FPI selling to a shift in stance from “sell China, buy India” to “sell India, buy China,” driven by the outperformance of Chinese stocks and the relative high valuations of Indian equities.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, believes this trend is likely to be short-term, triggered by the cheap valuations of Chinese stocks. Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, expects the Nifty to remain within the 21777-22232 range in the near term.
Global markets presented a mixed picture, with Chinese blue chips reaching a seven-month high and the MSCI Asia-Pacific index (excluding Japan) remaining flat after hitting a 15-month high last week. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were little changed, following a rally in the previous week driven by strong company earnings.
Foreign investors continued to be net sellers in the Indian market, offloading shares worth Rs 2,118 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors net bought Rs 2,710 crore in stocks. FPIs have been sellers in 23 of the last 28 sessions.
In the commodities market, oil prices extended their declines due to signs of weak fuel demand and comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials that dampened hopes of interest rate cuts. The Indian rupee opened flat at 83.51 against the US dollar, while the dollar index remained stable at 105.31.