Stocks slump in global selloff

Nifty falls 2.6%, BSE m-cap down ₹14 tn; GIFT Nifty jumps after Trump's Iran announcement

- Srushti Vaidya

The bloodbath on Dalal Street deepened on Monday, with benchmark indices extending losses amid the ongoing West Asia War, in line with a broader global rout.

The Nifty fell 2.6% to 22,512, taking its decline to 14.5% from its 2 January peak and leaving it just 769 points shy of its 52-week low on 7 April 2025. The Sensex also fell 2.46% or 1,837 points to 72,696 on Monday, shaving BSE’s market capitalization by ₹14 trillion.

Major indices around the world mirrored the trend, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 3.5%, China’s CSI 300 down 3.3%, and South Korea’s Kospi sliding 6.5%, as investors reacted to escalating geopolitical tensions and commodity volatility.

However, sentiment showed tentative signs of easing late in the day after Donald Trump said the US would delay planned strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure by five days. Brent crude oil prices fell $5.2 to $101.27 per barrel, while the GIFT Nifty contract rose 2.9% as of 5.53 pm, signalling a potential relief in near-term sentiment.

On Monday, selloffs in the midcap and the smallcap spaces were much higher than the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index falling 3.9% and the Nifty Smallcap index falling 3.78%.