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Informist, Monday, Mar. 23, 2026

By Arya S. Biju

MUMBAI – After a rebound Friday, bears took over Dalal Street once again as crude oil prices remained above the $110 per barrel level amid further escalation in the ongoing West Asia hostilities, which entered the fourth week Monday. Globally, equity markets remained under pressure after the US and Iran threatened to intensify attacks on each other over the weekend. Continued weakness in the rupee against the dollar, which fell to a record closing low Monday, also added to the negative sentiment in the domestic market. 

Saturday, US President Donald Trump threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if it did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. This comes barely a day after he talked about "winding down" the war, Reuters reported. Following this, Iran warned that it would attack US-linked infrastructure, including energy and desalination facilities in the Gulf region, if Trump carried out his threat.

Latest to the series, Iran's National Defence Council issued a statement, saying that any attempt to attack the Iranian coast or islands will cause "all communication lines in the Persian Gulf to be mined". The only way to pass through the strait is for countries not involved in the war to coordinate with Iran, AlJazeera reported, citing the council. Israel and the US launched a new wave of attacks against Iran as the latter renewed retaliatory strikes on its Gulf neighbours. The Israel military Monday said that it had "begun a wide-scale wave of strikes" on infrastructure targets in Iran, without immediately elaborating, AlJazeera reported. 

Monday, domestic benchmark indices closed around 2.5% lower each. The Nifty 50 settled at 22512.65, down 601.85 points or 2.6% from the previous close. This marked the index's lowest closing level since April 2025. The BSE Sensex closed at 72696.39, down 1836.57 points or 2.5%, marking the lowest closing price since June 2024.  

"Investor sentiment turned cautious following Trump's 48-hour ultimatum to Iran on the Strait of Hormuz. Rising global bond yields signalled heightened inflation and fiscal concerns, while the rupee falling to a record low further pressured markets and triggered FII (foreign institutional investror) outflows," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, in a note. The India VIX, the fear gauge of the Indian market, rose over 17% to 26.7300, indicating increased nervousness in the market.

"Oil prices are now at levels which can make the global economy struggle. Many economies would falter if the prices sustain at these levels. Even worse is the issue of supplies," Vikas Gupta, cheif executive officer and chief investment strategist at OmniScience Capital, said in a note. "Global economy is likely to slowdown significantly, while inflation is likely to rise. The previous view where most central banks across the globe, from the Fed (US Federal Reserve) to the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), were likely to cut interest rates in 2026 is completely negated due to this war," he added. The FedWatch tool now indicates a 40% probability of a 25 basis point hike in the key interest rate by the US Fed in 2026, compared with no expectation of a rate hike a week prior. 

Broader market indices saw the most pain, falling around 4% each compared with around 2.5% fall in the benchmark indices. All sectoral indices also closed in the red, down 0.2–5.2%. Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty were the worst hit among sectoral indices, falling 4.7–5.2%.

Metal stocks were among the worst hit on Monday. The stocks fell amid rising fears of a demand downturn in the wake of the ongoing geopolitical conflict. Continued fall in the rupee against the dollar and rising fears of interest rate hike by the US Fed also weighed on the sentiment. Higher interest rates typically reduce the appeal of non-yielding assets like metals, leading to price pressure. Hindustan Copper, Steel Authority of India, and Jindal Steel were the worst hit metal stocks, down 6.8–8.2%. 

A fall in the shares of Hindustan Zinc and its parent company Vedanta was also triggered by a fall in sharp silver prices. Monday, the futures contract of silver fell to its lowest level in 2026, on both the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX as the escalating military conflict in West Asia renewed concern about inflation, which could prompt central banks to keep rates higher for longer. 

Shares of aviation companies such as InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet fell 4.9% and 10%, respectively. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Friday said the impact of the rise in aviation turbine fuel prices would be visible from Apr. 1, according to media reports. In another development, the ministry withdrew the temporary ceiling on airfares, imposed in the wake of the large-scale flight disruptions by IndiGo airlines in December. The order effective Monday comes after Indian carriers warned the government of mounting financial stress, saying the fare restrictions were unsustainable amid rising fuel costs and operational disruptions. 

Shares of real estate companies remained under pressure on fears of a demand slowdown amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions. The Nifty Realty index closed 4.7% lower, falling for the third straight session. On other hand, shares of select information technology stocks rose Monday, bucking the overall bearish trend in the market. Sentiment around these stocks was boosted as the rupee continued to weaken against the dollar, falling to new record lows. A fall in the rupee against the dollar is beneficial for domestic IT companies which earn a major part of their revenue from US-based clients.  

Among individual stocks, Jaiprakash Power Ventures fell 10% after Vedanta moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, challenging Adani Enterprises' INR-145-billion resolution plan for its promoter Jaiprakash Associates. Jaiprakash Associates holds a 24% stake in Jaiprakash Power Ventures, according to the latest shareholding data. On other hand, Power Grid Corp. of India rose 1.5% and was among the only four Nifty 50 constituents in green. The stock rose after the company revised its capital expenditure guidance to INR 370 billion and INR 450 billion for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) and FY28, respectively. So far in FY26, the company has incurred a capital expenditure of INR 355.40 billion as of Mar. 22, higher than its previous guidance of INR 320 billion that the company updated in February. 

Shares of Innovision Ltd. closed over 28% lower on their debut day. The stock was listed at INR 467.70 on the National Stock Exchange, a discount of almost 10% compared with the issue price of INR 519. More than 7 million shares of the company changed hands on the NSE during the session. After seeing a weak response in the initial three days, the company's public offer was extended by another three days. At the end of six days, the offer was subscribed 3.3 times, with bids placed for 21.27 million shares, against 6.40 million shares on offer.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 4 rose and 46 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 4 rose and 26 fell

* On the NSE, 331 stocks rose, 3,007 fell, and 82 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 635 stocks rose, 3,798 fell, and 123 were unchanged

* Nifty Consumer Durables: down 5.2%; Nifty Realty: down 4.7%; Nifty IT: down 0.2%

BSE                                              NSE

Sensex: 72696.39, up 1836.57 points or 2.5%       Nifty 50: 22512.65, down 601.85 points or 2.6%

End

US$1 = INR 93.9750

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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