Stock Market Drops as Middle East Conflict, Tax Treaty, and Inflation Weigh on Investors

The BSE Sensex dropped 845.12 points or 1.14% to close at 73,399.78, and the NSE Nifty dropped 246.90 points or 1.1% to end at 22,272.50. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said that the negatives are partly in the price since a retaliation from Iran was expected, and the market discounted the higher US inflation on Friday. Meanwhile, ONGC and Hindalco were major gainers, while Shriram Finance and Wipro were major losers on NSE. The rupee declined 6 paise to settle at 83.44 against the US dollar on Monday, in line with deep losses in equity markets and an elevated dollar against major rivals overseas amid geopolitical tensions.

Overall, the stock market suffered significant losses on Monday amid escalating conflict in the Middle East and weak trends from global markets, unsettling investors. On BSE, stocks advanced 804 against 2,964 that declined, 150 remained unchanged, 140 hit a 52-week high, and 25 a 52-week low. 216 stocks traded in the upper circuit, while 350 stocks hit the lower circuit. The NSE Nifty 50 declined 248 points or 1.1% to 22,271.15. Nifty Media and PSU Bank stocks declined over 2%, while Nifty oil & gas traded in the green, up 0.36% at 11,689.90. Among major gainers on BSE were CGCL (13.32%), Aster DM (7.40%), Neuland Lab (6.45%), ONGC (5.61%), and CSB Bank (5.23%), while IFCI (-6.98%), Sapphire (-5.54%), KEC (-5.26%), NBCC (-5.24%), and