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Informist, Monday, Mar. 2, 2026

 

By Eshitva Prakash

 

MUMBAI – The benchmark indices ended sharply lower Monday as rising hostilities in West Asia led to a sharp rise in crude oil prices. Investors across the globe adopted a 'risk-off' approach, selling equities and purchasing safe haven assets such as gold and the US dollar. Though investors sold across sectors, shares of travel and logistics companies were hit especially hard, but mining and defence companies gained.

 

While the headline indices ended lower, they almost halved intraday losses towards the end of the session on hopes that hostilities between the two warring sides will not last more than a week, analysts said. Since several companies hedge their crude oil expenditure for one to three months, the impact will likely be limited as a quicker resolution may lead to crude oil prices cooling down, analysts said.

 

Israel and the US carried out strikes on Iran on Saturday. Iran retaliated by targeting US naval bases in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. The strikes on Iran reportedly killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. In retaliation, Iran launched a barrage of attacks across West Asia and into Israel. These developments have resulted in closure of airspace and concerns about security across West Asia. The attack on Iran has also led to a spike in the price of crude oil due to fears of supply disruption after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. 

 

The May futures contract of crude oil was up over 8% at $78.60 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange, but down from an over one-year high of $82.37 per barrel earlier in the session. In a related development, following a drone strike, Saudi Arabia has shut down its Ras Tanura oil refinery, according to Reuters. Every $1 rise in crude oil price increases the annual import bill of India by around $2 billion, putting pressure on the trade balance, JM Financial Services said in a report.

 

Investors also rushed to safe haven assets, which led the April futures contract of gold to jump up over 4% to INR 168,806 per 10 grams at 1513 IST on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India.

 

The Nifty 50 settled at 24865.70 points, down 312.95 points or 1.2%. This is its lowest closing level in a month. The 50-stock index had fallen as much as 2% intraday, but made a small recovery in the last hour of the session, primarily due to gains in select defence and metal stocks. The BSE Sensex ended at 80238.85 points, down 1048.34 points or 1.3%. The market's fear gauge, the India VIX, ended 25% higher at 17.13 points, which is its highest closing level in nine months.

 

Shares of Larsen & Toubro ended almost 5% lower as the conflict in West Asia raised fears of disruption to the company's operations there. The company's existing order book and order inflows have significant exposure to West Asia. The region accounts for 37% of its INR-7.33-trillion order book as of nine months ended December, according to calculations by JM Financial Institutional Securities. Furthermore, over this period, orders from this region accounted for 33% of order inflows of INR 3.46 trillion.

 

Shares of travel and tourism related stocks ended sharply lower after the closure of airspaces across West Asia due to ongoing military operations. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation ended over 6% lower after the airline operator said it was extending the cancellation of all outbound flights to West Asia to Monday. Shares of its peer, SpiceJet, ended nearly 6% lower on BSE. Tourism-related stocks such as Yatra Online declined over 10% and Easy Trip Planners fell over 7%. Thomas Cook (India) and Le Travenues Technology closed over 2% lower each.

 

Shares of automobile companies and ancillary companies were also hit hard as there are concerns that a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz will limit exports and add to the cost of production. The Nifty Auto index fell over 2% with Uno Minda, Samvardhana Motherson International, and Exide Industries ending 3-4% lower. Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp., Bajaj Auto, and Mahindra & Mahindra ended 1-2% lower.

 

Shares of transport and shipping companies ended lower owing to risks associated with mobility in a hostile situation. Transport Corp. of India, Container Corp. of India, Shipping Corp. of India, and Blue Dart Express ended 1-3% lower. Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone fell over 3%.

 

On the other hand, shares of defence companies rose. The Nifty India Defence index closed 0.5% higher. Paras Defence and Space Technologies, Solar Industries India, and Dynamatic Technologies closed 3–5% higher. Bharat Electronics ended 2% higher, gaining the most among Nifty 50 companies.

 

Shares of crude oil exploration companies ended higher after the spike in crude oil prices. Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Oil India ended nearly 1% higher each. On the other hand, shares of oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp., and Bharat Petroleum Corp. ended 3–5% lower due to worries about the supply of crude oil. In the short term, if the war between Iran and the US continues, Emkay Global Financial Securities expects severe dislocation of oil supplies and global supply chains, with a spike in Brent crude oil prices to $90–$100 per barrel. The spike in crude prices will hurt India's macroeconomic stability by putting pressure on the rupee, current account deficit, and domestic inflation, Emkay Global said.

Metal stocks National Aluminium Co., Hindustan Zinc, and Hindustan Copper ended 2% higher each. Emkay Global said this is one of the sectors to be unscathed by the hostilities in West Asia. Investors also bought shares of these companies as prices of copper, aluminium, and silver rose sharply Monday. Shares of gold financier Muthoot Finance ended 3.5% higher.

 

Shares of Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions ended nearly 18% lower at INR 867.50 The stock listed at INR 960 on the National Stock Exchange, a discount of nearly 9% to its issue price of INR 1,053.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 8 rose and 42 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 3 rose and 27 fell

* On the NSE, 651 stocks rose, 2,578 fell, and 68 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 821 stocks rose, 3,561 fell, and 159 were unchanged

* Nifty Realty: down 2.3%; Nifty Auto: down 1.9%; Nifty Media: up 0.6%

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BSE                                                 NSE

Sensex: 80238.85, down 1048.34 points or 1.3%       Nifty 50: 24865.70, down 312.95 points or 1.2%

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S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26373.20 (Jan. 5, 2026)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2, 2026)
2026 1st day close: 85188.60 (Jan. 1)	: 2026 1st day close: 26146.55 (Jan. 1)
2026 Closing High: 85762.01 (Jan. 2)	: 2026 Closing High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2)
2026 Closing Low: 80238.85 (Mar. 2)	: 2026 Closing Low: 24865.70 (Mar. 2)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 78543.73 (Mar. 2)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 24571.75 (Feb. 1)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

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End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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