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Informist, Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

 

By Arya S. Biju

 

MUMBAI – Dalal Street had its worst week in nearly four years as traders fled the domestic equity market on concern about rising crude oil prices due to the worsening conflict in West Asia and the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The benchmark indices shed over 5?ch in the week, marking their worst weekly performance since June 2022.

 

The continuing surge in crude oil prices triggered fresh worries over the country's growth outlook, with expectations of higher inflation and a widening current account deficit. Crude oil prices have continued to rise with no sign of de-escalation of the hostilities. Crude prices have jumped nearly 39% since Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran Feb. 28, triggering the conflict.

 

In the week's final trading session, both the Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex fell around 2%. The 50-stock index settled at 23151.10, down 488.05 points from previous close. The Sensex ended at 74563.92, down 1470.50 points.

 

The headline indices have fallen over 8% since the beginning of the conflict. The Nifty 50 is now more than 3000 points away from its record high of 26373.2 points hit on Jan. 5. The BSE Sensex is around 11600 points away from its all-time high of 86159.02 points hit on Dec. 1. 

 

Only five of the Nifty 50 stocks closed higher on a weekly basis while Tech Mahindra remained largely flat. Coal India stood out, gaining over 6% over the week. On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro was the worst hit, losing around 13% over the week. The stock has been under severe selling pressure since the conflict in West Asia began, given the company's significant exposure to the region.

 

Automobile companies were among the hardest hit in the week, with the Nifty Auto index shedding nearly 11%, its worst weekly performance since March 2020, when a countrywide lockdown was announced to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts have flagged risks of production disruptions and hits to margins amid higher fuel and commodity prices for these companies.

 

Banking and financial services stocks also fell on fears of accelerating inflation and higher government bond yields impacting their treasury income. Higher inflation could result in lower consumption, which in turn would mean lower credit growth for financial companies, analysts said.

 

The Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare indices saw the least fall among sectoral indices, down around 1?ch over the week. "One segment that is weathering the storm is pharmaceuticals. This sector is not impacted by external headwinds. In fact rupee depreciation is a positive for the sector, which is a major exporter," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said in a note. 

 

Energy-linked companies were another set that defied the weak sentiment. The Nifty Energy index closed higher in three of the week's five sessions, losing only 0.7% over the week. The positive sentiment around these stocks was supported by hopes of a demand surge due to the early onset of summer. Analysts said the supply bottleneck at the Strait of Hormuz could open up new opportunities for renewable and non-crude-dependent energy players such as NTPC Green Energy and Coal India.

 

Coming to the broader market, the mid-cap indices took the harder hit, shedding 4.5-4.8% over the week. However, this was still better than the fall of over 5% in the benchmarks. The small-cap indices fell around 4?ch. The market remained highly volatile throughout the week, with the India Volatility Index gaining around 14% over the week.

 

In Friday's session, metal companies were the worst hit, with the Nifty Metal index falling around 5%. Shares of metal companies fell on fears of supply constraints and higher input costs hitting profitability. Among individual stocks, PG Electroplast fell nearly 6?ter reports said the company's production was hit by a shortage of gas supply.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 3 rose and 47 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 2 rose and 28 fell

* On the NSE, 578 stocks rose, 2,644 fell, and 93 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 858 stocks rose, 3,439  fell, and 124 were unchanged

* Nifty Metal: down 4.8%; Nifty PSU Bank: down 3.7%; Nifty FMCG: down 0.6%

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BSE                                              NSE

Sensex: 74563.92, down 1470.50 points or 1.9%    Nifty 50: 23151.10, down 488.05 points or 2.1%

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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: 74563.92 (Mar. 13)	: 2026 Closing Low: 23151.10 (Mar. 13)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 74454.60 (Mar. 13)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 23112 (Mar. 13)
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)

 

End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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