Stock Market Crash Highlights: The Indian stock market indices Sensex and Nifty 50 declined on Wednesday, March 11 as the US-Iran war kept investors cautious. The Nifty and Sensex declined over 1.5% each mainly dragged by banks, financial services, and auto stocks.
Sensex ended 1342.27 points or 1.72% lower at 76,863.71 while the broader Nifty lost 417.85 points or 1.72% to settle at 23,843.75. Meanwhile, in intraday deals, Sensex fell as much as 1,396 points or 1.8% to its intra-day low of 76,810.14 while Nifty 50 shed 407 points or 1.7% to its day’s low of 23,854.35.
Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed benchmarks but still ended in the red.
Investors lost around ₹3 lakh crore in today’s session as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms fell to over ₹442 lakh crore from over ₹447 lakh crore in the previous session.
Global Markets and Crude Oil Prices
US stock futures gave up earlier gains while oil prices rose again after reports that vessels in the Middle East came under attack amid ongoing military strikes. Meanwhile, Treasury yields remained steady as investors awaited key US inflation data for further policy cues.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 trimmed an earlier advance of about 0.5%. Brent crude climbed 1.8% to trade just below $90 per barrel, recovering after plunging around 11% in the previous session. The UK Navy reported that three ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, indicating continued disruption to maritime shipping routes.
Oil prices have remained sharply below their peaks hit on Monday. Such spikes have been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.
In Europe, equities weakened, with the Stoxx Europe 600 falling 0.9% as of 8:38 a.m. London time.
US equity futures were largely flat, with S&P 500 futures, Nasdaq 100 futures and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures showing little change.
Asian markets, however, traded higher, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 0.9%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index also gained 0.8%.
Gold, Silver rate today
Gold and silver rate today also declined on Wednesday, March 11 on the back of easing oil prices and a softer US dollar amid the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.
On MCX, silver price fell 2.6% to its day’s low of ₹2,70,600 per kg while MCX gold price was down 0.76% to ₹1,62,055 per 10 grams.
Gold and Silver prices are currently influenced by competing macro forces. On one side, escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are sustaining demand for safe-haven assets. On the other hand, the strengthening US dollar and rising Treasury yields are limiting the metal’s upside, believes Renisha Chainani, Head of Research at Augmont.
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