At Closing Bell, Indian Markets Plunge Over 2% Amid Global Selloff; Sensex Tanks 1,352 Points, Nifty Slips Below 24,050

Mumbai, March 9 (TNA) Indian equity benchmarks capped a brutal trading session with steep losses at the closing bell, dragged down by heavy selling in banking, financials, and IT sectors amid weak global cues and foreign investor outflows. The BSE Sensex plummeted 1,352 points, or approximately 1.7%, to settle around 78,048, while the Nifty 50 shed over 400 points to close below 24,050 at roughly 24,028 – marking its lowest level in recent sessions.

The day began with a sharp gap-down open, reflecting overnight weakness in US markets and surging crude oil prices that fueled inflation fears. Markets pared some intraday losses but failed to recover, with 3,467 of 4,381 BSE stocks declining against just 742 advances. Over 787 scrips hit 52-week lows, underscoring broad-based pressure. Investor wealth eroded by nearly ₹8 lakh crore, as per provisional data.

Sectoral carnage was led by financial heavyweights. Nifty Bank crashed 3.54% or 2,046 points to 55,737, hammered by public sector lenders amid rising bad loan worries and global rate hike jitters. Nifty Financial Services tumbled 2.87% to 25,886, while Nifty IT lagged with a 2-3% drop on profit booking. Midcaps and smallcaps fared no better: Nifty Midcap 100 fell 2.54% to 55,935, and Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 2.56% to 16,077.

Key drags included HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI, which lost 3-4%, alongside IT majors like Infosys and TCS, down over 2.5%. Auto stocks like Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors extended losses amid softening demand signals. Bright spots were scarce, with select energy and defence names bucking the trend on crude tailwinds.

FIIs continued their selling spree, offloading over ₹2,500 crore, while DIIs provided mild support with modest buying. Global factors weighed heavily: US indices’ slide, Bitcoin’s volatility, and OPEC+ production cuts pushed oil above $85/barrel, stoking imported inflation fears for import-dependent India.

Analysts see this as a technical correction after February’s rally. “Markets off day’s lows but banking/auto drag persists; support at 23,800 for Nifty,” noted HDFC Securities’ Nagaraj Shetti, advising long-term investors to eye dips in quality stocks.

Swastika Investmart highlighted global weakness and profit-booking as triggers, viewing the pullback as a buying opportunity. Outlook remains cautious with eyes on the US CPI data tomorrow and the RBI’s policy signals. Traders brace for volatility, but fundamentals like strong earnings growth offer solace for patient investors.