The stock market dived sharply on Monday, extending losses for the second straight session.
Showcasing a disappointing trading session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 719.08 points, or 0.97 per cent, to settle at 73,524.26. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty settled 243.70 points, or 1.04 per cent, lower at 23,123.
During the day, Sensex had tumbled 924.4 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 73,318.94. In the case of Nifty, in intra-day trade, the benchmark lost 296.55 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 23,070.15.
What caused the decline?
Hike in crude oil prices, geopolitical tensions, weak global markets, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) outflow, and decline of the rupee are some of the reasons for the fall in the stock market today.
The latest missile attack by Iran and the fear of a fall through in the negotiations drove the fear in the investor mindset, as reflected in the market performance. According to various reports, US President Donald Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against the missile attack.
“The escalation of conflict in West Asia, with Iran firing missiles at Israel in retaliation to Israel’s aggression in Lebanon, has hardened crude prices,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said. This move also resulted in a rise in crude oil prices.
Asian markets like South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng witnessed selling pressure today.
The persistent FII selling also made an impact on the overall market performance today. It has been reported that FIIs sold nearly Rs 43,000 crore from Indian equities during the first week of June. Meanwhile, the rupee fell 17 paise to 95.35 against the US dollar today.