Domestic equity markets opened the week on a turbulent note on Monday, March 2, 2026, as escalating tensions in the US–Israel–Iran war unnerved investors. Benchmark indices began trade with a sharp gap-down opening, reflecting heavy selling pressure right from the opening bell.
The BSE Sensex plunged as much as 2,743.46 points, or 3.37 per cent, during early trade to hit an intraday low of 78,543.73. The Nifty 50, too, tumbled up to 533.55 points, or 2.12 per cent, to touch a low of 24,645.10 for the day.
Selling pressure was broad-based across sectors. However, metals was the lone pocket of resilience in an otherwise weak market. Barring the metal index, all major sectoral indices were trading firmly in the red.
Nifty Oil & Gas emerged as the biggest laggard, trading 1.80 per cent lower at the time of writing, as investors reacted to concerns over the sharp jump in crude oil prices. Financials were also under strain. Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Financial Services each declined more than 1 per cent.
Nifty Auto, Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables tumbled over 1 per cent each. Even defensive sectors like Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare were down more than 1 per cent, and Nifty FMCG, which is traditionally seen as a safe haven during periods of uncertainty, slipped nearly 1 per cent.
Nifty IT and Nifty Bank also traded lower by about 0.90 per cent each.
All the sectoral indices began the session with major gap-down, however, they quickly staged a partial recovery, trimming some of the initial damage as bargain hunting emerged at lower levels.
On the other hand, Nifty Metal bucked the broader trend. After witnessing a deep gap-down opening, the index managed to recoupe to trade 0.70 per cent higher.
This is a developing story...
