Sensex, Nifty Today: After rebounding for two consecutive sessions, domestic equity benchmarks started with a major gap-down on March 27, tracking weak global cues.
The BSE Sensex started with a gap-down of 389.66 points, or 0.52 per cent at 74,883.79, while the NSE Nifty 50 began 132.90 points, or 0.57 per cent, lower at 23,173.55. However, soon after the opening bell rang, as of 9:40 AM, Sensex slipped as much as 1,008.67 points, or 1.34 per cent, to hit an intraday low at 74,264.78, and Nifty 50 tumbled up to 305.60 points, or 1.31 per cent, to touch the day's low at 23,000.85.
The decline came despite a signal of temporary easing in tensions between the United States (US) and Iran. US President Donald Trump on March 26 said he would extend the pause on attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure for another 10 days, pushing the deadline to April 6, as he continues to claim that ongoing negotiations with Tehran were progressing “very well.”
Earlier, on March 23, Trump had ordered a five-day pause on strikes targeting power plants and other energy facilities.
"Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well," he said in his Truth Social post, though he did not clarify who the US is in talks with inside Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran has denied any ongoing discussions with the US, according to a Reuters report.
Broad-Based Sell Off, Barring IT
The broader market indices - Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 - fell around 1 per cent each. Nifty 500, which represents more than 92 per cent of the total free-float of all the NSE-listed stocks, was also down more than 1 per cent.
All major sectoral indices traded in red in early session, barring Nifty IT, which was up by around 0.75 per cent. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare were trading marginally lower.
Leading the decline, Nifty PSU Bank fell 2.60 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank lost 1.45 per cent.
Nifty Bank also slipped around 1.80 per cent to 52,700 level.
Other sectoral indices like auto, financial services, FMCG, metal, realty, consumer durables, and oil & gas were also in the negative territory.
Among the Nifty 50's constituents, Shriram Finance, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle, IndiGo, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industires were the top losers, falling between 2.50 per cent and 4.50 per cent.
On the other hand, ONGC and Tata Consultancy Services rose over 2.50 per cent and 1.50 per cent, respectively, followed by Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys, and Nestle India.
Out of the 50 constituents, only eight were in green.
Crude Oil Prices Ease
Crude oil prices remained relatively stable in early trade on March 27.
At 10:00 AM, the Brent crude oil futures traded at $101 per barrel, down by 0.85 per cent, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures was trading lower by 0.91 per cent at $93.62 a barrel.
Since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after talks about Tehran's nuclear program failed to yield a deal, crude prices have over 40 per cent.
Rupee Hits Fresh Record Low
The Indian rupee slipped to a fresh record low against the US dollar on March 27. During early trade, it fell by 36 paise to touch 94.32 per dollar.
The currency had settled at 93.96 in the previous session before weakening further in the interbank forex market.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index remained firm at 99.66, down 0.05 per cent. The index measures the greenback against the world's six major currencies.
US Equities End In Red
The Nasdaq declined 2.38 per cent overnight, while the S&P 500 fell 1.74 per cent and the Dow Jones declined 1.01 per cent, as fears of an escalation in the US-Israel conflict with Iran pushed investors towards safer assets and heightened inflation concerns amid surging oil prices.
It was the biggest single-day fall for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 since January 20.
Asian Equities Mirror Wall Street
The selloff in US markets spilled over into Asian markets as well.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell over 1.50 per cent before recovering to trade in green, South Korea's Kospi, too, tumbled over 2 per cent, before recovering to trade around flat levels. On the other hand, Hong Kong's Hange Seng was up 83 per cent, and China's CSI 300 traded higher by 0.76 per cent.
