Sensex Falls 800 Points As US-Iran Ceasefire Comes Under Threat, Nifty Slips Below 23,800

Equity benchmark indices snapped their five-day gaining streak as the recently agreed upon US-Iran ceasefire came under threat. The BSE Sensex fell as much as 938.55 points, or 1.21 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 76,624.35. Likewise, the NSE Nifty 50 tumbled up to 237.90 points, or 1 per cent, to the day’s low at 23,759.45.

Midcaps and smallcaps were relatively less affected, as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 traded around flat levels, as of the time of writing. Nifty 500, which represents nearly 92 per cent of the free float market capitalisation of the stocks listed on NSE, was down by around 0.40 per cent.

Nifty IT led the losses, declining over 1 per cent. Rate-sensitive sectors such as auto, realty and banking stocks also came under pressure, after having rallied up to 7 per cent following the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep key interest rates unchanged at its April 6–8 monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting. On the other hand, metals, pharma, healthcare, and PSU banks were trading in green.

The selling comes after markets witnessed a relief rally in the previous session after the US President Donald Trump announced a truce with Iran, saying he has agreed “to suspend the bombing ⁠and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.” In a post on Truth Social, he hadd added, "We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

This is a developing story...