Kamal Ghorui
Stock market crash today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex crashed in opening trade on Monday amidst rising Middle East tensions and global market turmoil, with impact on crude oil prices and trade in focus. While Nifty50 went below 24,900, BSE Sensex was done over 1,000 points. At 9:16 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 24,866.00, down 313 points or 1.24%. BSE Sensex was at 80,226.63, down 1,061 points or 1.30%.Analysts warn that sectors sensitive to crude prices such as oil marketing companies, paints, tyres, aviation and chemicals could face pressure on margins due to rising input costs. In contrast, upstream oil producers including ONGC and Oil India may gain from improved realisations, while defence stocks such as HAL and BEL could witness positive sentiment.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “The uncertainty related to the war in West Asia will loom large over the market in the near-term. The major risk from the market perspective is the energy risk arising from the surge in crude. Indications are that a sharp spike in crude by, say 20%, is likely only if the Hormuz Strait is closed, obstructing oil transport through the strait. There is no official confirmation of this yet. If Brent crude remains around $ 76 equity markets may remain weak but are unlikely to witness a big crash. Experience tells us that panic selling during a crisis is the wrong strategy. Investors should refrain from selling and watch how things evolve. Data from crises during the last many decades tells us that an event like the present crisis will not have any impact on the market six months later. This is the takeaway from the market behaviour after the recent crises like the Covid crisis, Russia-Ukraine war and the Gaza conflict. The ongoing West Asian crisis is unlikely to be different. However, since a war can spring unexpected surprises, investors have to be cautious.Weakness in the market can be used to slowly accumulate high quality stocks in domestic consumption themes like banking, automobiles, capital goods and defense.”Asian markets also came under strain, falling 1.1 per cent, while equity index futures for the US and Europe dropped as tensions intensified after the US-Israeli military action against Iran. Brent crude briefly surged as much as 13 per cent before trimming gains, as turmoil in the global oil market intensified amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.Crude prices extended gains on Monday, rising more than 8 per cent to multi-month highs as Iran and Israel increased attacks in the region, damaging tankers and disrupting supplies from a key oil-producing corridor.Gold climbed up to 2 per cent after the United States and Israel carried out major strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, heightening geopolitical tensions and amplifying global economic uncertainty.Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 7,536 crore on Friday. Domestic institutional investors offset part of the outflows, purchasing shares worth Rs 12,293 crore on a net basis.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
