The sell-off in the Indian stock market further deepened in Monday’s session, March 30, as the war in West Asia stretched into its fifth week, keeping riskier assets out of investors’ favour, while relentless selling by overseas investors hammered the key indices, resulting in their worst monthly decline in six years.
The markets opened the session lower, and selling continued throughout the day, with the Nifty 50 eventually settling at the day’s low of 22,331, down 2.14% compared to Friday’s close, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost another 2.22% in trade to close at 71,947.
As the sell-off dragged into the third session, both indices closed the month with double-digit losses, declining over 11%, marking their worst monthly drop since March 2020. The broader markets, too, faced severe selling throughout March, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices crashing up to 11%.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank once again stood as the worst performer in today’s trade, falling 4.56%. It was followed by the Nifty Realty, Nifty Media, Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Chemicals indices, all falling over 2%.
In a further escalation, Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen entered the Middle East war, reportedly launching a barrage of missiles on Israel over the weekend, which kept crude oil prices marching higher, putting them on track for a record monthly increase.
The war’s targets have now expanded beyond energy facilities and military bases to residential areas, as the US, Israel, and Iran launch attacks on key populated locations.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, President Donald Trump said he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island, a move that could trigger significant retaliation from Tehran. Earlier this month, the US struck military sites on the island, Bloomberg reported.
Broad-based sell-off hits Nifty 500; metals, PSU banks lead declines
Over 100 constituents of the Nifty 500 index closed with losses of over 4.5%, with Authum Investment & Infrastructure leading the decline, crashing 12.3% to ₹426 apiece. It was followed by Hindustan Copper, which tumbled 8.2% to ₹453, ending March with a 20% drop.
Similarly, other metal stocks such as Adani Enterprises, APL Apollo Tubes, Jindal Steel, and JSW Steel all closed with losses ranging between 1.5% and 3.2%.
State-owned banks came under another round of selling pressure, with Union Bank of India, Punjab & Sind Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, and UCO Bank closing with losses of up to 6.6%.
Likewise, auto stocks also witnessed heavy selling, as all constituents of the Nifty Auto index declined, posting losses ranging from 1% to 5.3%, led by Ashok Leyland, Exide Industries, and Tata Motors.
Meanwhile, OLA Electric shares came under renewed selling pressure, dropping 6%, erasing most of their recent gains and extending their monthly losing streak to six.
New-age tech stocks such as Brainbees Solutions and Paytm fell 7% and 5%, respectively. Tyre major, Ceat shares plunged 6.36% to ₹3,242 apiece, while its peer JK Tyre also lost 4.4% of its value.
Select stocks buck the trend
In a widespread sell-off, some stocks managed to buck the trend, led by IRB Infrastructure Developers, Travel Food Services, and AIA Engineering, with all rallying 8.2%, 6.9%, and 5.2%, respectively.
Among metal stocks, National Aluminium, Steel Authority of India, and Hindalco Industries closed higher by 4.1%, 3.4%, and 2.1%, respectively.
Other stocks such as Urban Company, Bayer CropScience, DOMS Industries, Atul, and Thermax also concluded the session with gains of over 2%.
Disclaimer: We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
