Stock Market Today LIVE: The Indian stock market benchmarks Nifty and Sensex witnessed a sharp sell-off on Monday, March 2 following losses in Asian peer after a full blown war started over the weekend in the Middle East.
At open, Sensex plunging 2,743 points, or 3.34%, to begin the session at 78,543.73. However, the index trimmed a significant portion of its losses within the first hour. It later pared gains to trade around 1% lower.
Similarly, the Nifty 50 mirrored the volatility. The index tumbled more than 500 points, over 2%, to touch an intraday low of 24,645 before staging a recovery. It is also down around 1%.
The total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell by ₹5 lakh crore, slipping to ₹458.60 lakh crore from ₹463.50 lakh crore in the previous session.
The US and Israeli striked Iran killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The development triggered fresh uncertainty across global financial markets and drove volatility in commodities.
Meanwhile, Asian markets also traded sharply lower, while the US stock futures declined as investors rushed for safe-haven assets amid the Iran war. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.2%.
The conflict intensified after coordinated strikes by the US and Israel targeted multiple locations in Iran. Tehran responded with missile attacks aimed at Israel as well as US military installations and strategic sites in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, widening fears of a broader regional confrontation.
However, the war led to an increse in demand for save haven assets. Gold prices rallied and the crude oil prices surged. US dollar gained against other currencies, while in bond markets, US 10-year Treasury yields steadied at 3.970%, having briefly touched an 11-month low of 3.926%.
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