Stock Market Today: Domestic equity benchmark indices continued to decline unabated on Thursday, April 2, 2026. The sell-off follows a brief recovery rally in the previous session. Both the benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, started with a huge gap-down, and tumbled further to newer lows.
The BSE Sensex plunged 1,588.51 points, or 2.17 per cent, to intraday low at 71,545.81. Likewise, the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 496.85 points, or 2.20 per cent, to the day’s low at 22,182.55.
Sensex has declined nearly 12 per cent and Nifty has slumped 11.90 per cent since the US-Iran war started on February 28.
The sell-off is across the breadth of the market, as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 were also down in the 2-3 per cent range.
All major sectoral indices declined. Nifty PSU Bank was the worst affected, falling around 3.50 per cent. Barring Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG, all other sectoral indices fell in the 2-3 per cent range.
Among the Nifty 50 constituents, food delivery and quick commerce aggregator Eternal (formerly Zomato) and leading low-cost passenger airline company InterGlobe Aviation were the top losers, falling around 5 per cent and 4 per cent each. Following them, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Eicher Motors, Shriram Finance, SBI Life Insurance, and Tata Steel fell in the 3-4 per cent range. HCL Technologies was the only stock trading in the positive territory, while Tata Consumer Products oscillated between green and red.
Why Stock Market Is Falling Today
The following triggers sent the stock market down on April 2.
Trump's Fresh Warning To Iran
The sell-off came after US President Donald Trump said that the US plans to open fresh attacks on Iran, reducing hopes of an early end to the war and weighing on global markets.
Addressing the nation early this morning, Trump said, “We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress, we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly."
He added, “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” signalling further military action.
Trump also warned of strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure if no deal is reached. “If during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he said.
Crude Oil Prices Jump Over 6%
Trump's warning heightened geopolitical uncertainty and drove crude oil prices higher.
The international benchmark Brent crude oil futures surged around 6.50 per cent again to $108 per barrel level, after it saw some cooling in the previous session.
Likewise, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures also surged over 6 per cent to quote above $106 a barrel.
Rising crude oil prices have heightened concerns over inflationary pressures, as they tend to push up living costs across the board. Higher oil prices translate into increased logistics and transportation expenses, which in turn raise input costs for businesses and ultimately make a wide range of goods and services more expensive.
Bank Stocks Weigh
Bank stocks, which carry one of the highest weight in the benchmark indices, came under pressure on concerns over potential losses after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stepped up its crackdown on speculative activity in the rupee (INR).
The Nifty Bank index fell as much as 2.90 per cent to 49,954.85, its lowest level since April 9, 2025. All its constituents traded in the red. Federal Bank, Bank of Baroda, AU Small Finance Bank, and Canara bank were the leading losers, falling more than 3 per cent each.
On April 1, the RBI barred banks from offering rupee non-deliverable forwards to both resident and non-resident clients, days after capping banks’ net open rupee positions at $100 million.
These measures come as rupee weakened to a new record low of 95.22 against the US dollar (USD). The local currency has been hit by concerns over the spillover effect of the Iran conflict. The USD/INR pair surged as much as 4.55 per cent since the Iran war began, its biggest monthly surge in six years, before dipping 2.20 per cent to 93.13 against the dollar in early trade on April 2 following the latest curbs. A rise in the USD/INR pair means a weaker rupee, as it implies more rupees are needed to buy a dollar.
