As the war in West Asia intensifies, so does the sell-off in the Indian stock market, with key indices suffering another 2% drop in Monday’s session, March 23, dragging them to their lowest levels since April 2025.
The constant missile exchanges in the Gulf region, now entering the fourth week, have pushed several domestic stocks to multi-year lows. Crude-sensitive stocks, in particular, are bearing the brunt of the selling, wiping out billions in investor wealth and positioning the Nifty 50 for its worst monthly performance since March 2020.
The Nifty 50, which opened with a sharp gap-down and showed no signs of recovery toward the close, fell 629 points, or 2.72%, to settle at 22,485. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex also declined 2.5% to close at 72,669.
The broader market faced even deeper cuts, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 plunging nearly 4%, taking their year-to-date losses to around 15%.
All major sectoral indices ended in the red, with the Nifty Consumer Durables index taking the biggest hit, plunging 5%.
The Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty indices also dropped over 4.5% each. This was followed by the Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty Chemicals, and Nifty Oil & Gas indices, all of which declined over 2.5%. The Nifty IT index was the only one to limit losses, closing marginally lower by 0.27%.
US President Donald Trump has set a Monday deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face potential strikes on its power infrastructure. Iran has warned it would retaliate by targeting energy and water assets across the Gulf. Over the weekend, both Israel and Iran intensified their attacks on each other, keeping crude oil prices elevated.
Broad-based sell-off hits Nifty 500; metals, banks, and realty stocks lead declines
Over 100 Nifty 500 stocks ended with losses of over 5%, led by Brainbees Solutions, which declined 12%, erasing most of its previous session’s gains. It was followed by Jaiprakash Power Ventures, Lodha Developers, AWL Agri Business, and Jammu & Kashmir Bank, all of which crashed over 8.5%.
Metal stocks were among the top laggards, with all 15 constituents of the Nifty Metal index closing in the red. Hindustan Copper was the top loser in the pack, falling 8.5%, while SAIL, Jindal Steel, NMDC, Hindustan Zinc, NALCO, Adani Enterprises, and Tata Steel all plunged over 5%.
Among banking counters, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, YES Bank, Canara Bank, IndusInd Bank, and HDFC Bank closed with losses of around 5%. Likewise, the sell-off in auto stocks intensified further, with stocks such as Sona BLW Precision Forgings, Ashok Leyland, Exide Industries, and Hero MotoCorp closing with losses of over 4%.
Real estate stocks, among the biggest casualties in the sell-off, came under another round of selling, with Prestige Estates, Sobha, Anant Raj, DLF, Signature Global, and Godrej Properties falling in the range of 3% to 5.6%.
Meanwhile, Reliance Power shares came under renewed selling pressure, falling 7.3% to ₹21 apiece, while Vodafone Idea shares also tumbled 7% to ₹8.70 apiece, the lowest level since October 2025.
Paytm shares cracked 6% to ₹992.80 apiece. Last week, the stock breached the ₹1,000 level for the first time since July 2025. In the consumer durables space, Titan Company, Voltas, Amber Enterprises, Kalyan Jewellers, Blue Star, Dixon Technologies, and Havells India all shed over 4%.
Select stocks defy market weakness; Trident, HCL Tech lead gains
In a broad sell-off, only a handful of stocks managed gains, led by Trident, which rose 3.3%, followed by Metropolis Healthcare and HCL Technologies, up around 2% each. Extending its gains for the second consecutive session, Power Grid Corporation shares advanced another 1.5% to ₹302 apiece.
Similarly, Apar Industries shares remained higher for the second day in a row, closing 1.36% up at ₹9,805 apiece.
Other stocks such as Vardhman Textiles, Sun TV Network, and Coforge also ended with gains of over 1%.
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