MUMBAI — The stock market suffered a sharp sell-off on Thursday, with the Sensex plunging 1,247.71 points and the Nifty 50 falling 383.70 points as rising crude prices, higher US bond yields and heavy selling in financial stocks weighed on investor sentiment.
The Sensex closed at 73,580.54, down 1.67%, while the Nifty settled at 23,063.10, lower by 1.64%. The Nifty slipped below the 23,100 mark during the session and touched an intraday low near 23,046. The decline was broad-based rather than limited to a few index-heavy stocks. At the BSE, 2,884 stocks ended lower against 1,473 advances. The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 2.25%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 1.53%.
Market volatility also increased sharply. India VIX, the gauge of expected volatility, rose nearly 23% to 12.73.Crude oil emerged as one of the major pressure points. Brent crude climbed 2.4% to around $105.60 a barrel as uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran conflict continued to keep supply concerns in focus. Higher oil prices are particularly significant for India because the country depends heavily on imports to meet its crude requirements.
Global bond-market movements added to the pressure. The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to around 5.11%, its highest level since 2007, strengthening concerns over global borrowing costs and the direction of interest rates.
The rupee also weakened, ending at around ₹95.96 against the US dollar after touching a similar level during the session.Financial stocks bore some of the heaviest selling.
Bajaj Finance fell about 5.5%, Axis Bank declined 4.7% and Bajaj Finserv dropped 4.1%.Insurance-linked shares faced additional pressure following an Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India consultation paper proposing changes to insurance distribution rules. PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar, plunged around 36%, while several other insurance stocks also declined sharply.
The combined fall in financial stocks added to the wider market damage, with the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies estimated to have fallen by around ₹4.05 lakh crore by the close.
The sell-off came even as the National Stock Exchange began trading as a listed company on Thursday, opening at ₹1,800 against its ₹1,785 issue price.
