Stock markets took a beating on April 15 with benchmark Sensex and Nifty tumbling over 1% as escalating conflict in the Middle East and weak trends from global markets unnerved investors.

Falling for the second session in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 845.12 points or 1.14% to settle at a more than two-week low of 73,399.78. During the day, it plunged 929.74 points or 1.25% to 73,315.16.

The NSE Nifty declined 246.90 points or 1.10% to settle at 22,272.50.

Key indices had plunged by over 1% in the previous session on Friday due to profit taking by investors at record high levels. Sensex lost 1,638 points or 2.19% while Nifty plunged 481 points or 2.13% to slip below the 22,300 level in two straight sessions.

Foreign fund outflows and hotter-than-expected US inflation data also played spoilsport for the markets.

Analysts said the renewed conflict in the Middle East, proposed changes in the India-Mauritius tax treaty and the hotter-than-expected US inflation proved to be major drags.

From the Sensex basket, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

Nestle, Maruti and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 1.54% and midcap index dipped 1.50 per cent.

Among the indices, services droped by 2.12%, financial services by 1.81%, IT by 1.58%, bankex by 1.55% and utilities by 1.37%.

Energy and oil & gas were the gainers.

A total of 2,991 stocks declined while 913 advanced and 145 remained unchanged.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower while Shanghai ended in the positive territory. European markets were trading on a mixed note. Wall Street ended significantly lower on Friday.

“Geopolitical tensions and higher-than-expected US inflation impacted investor sentiment and dragged the indices to a lower note. The major casualties were the mid- and small-cap indices due to their rich valuation and expectation of moderation in earnings growth in Q4FY24.

“On the other hand, the European market opened on a positive note while oil prices inched lower as market participants expected that the diplomatic efforts were likely to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 1.04% to $89.51 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹8,027 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

“The escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia prompted a decline in the 30-share BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty. Market indices traded lower, influenced by the heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, leading to losses across major sectors. Notably, the broader small and midcap segments also saw declines,” said Suman Bannerjee, CIO of hedge fund Hedonova.

Official data released on Monday showed that wholesale inflation rose marginally to 0.53% in March compared to 0.20% in the preceding month due to an increase in prices of vegetables, potato, onion and crude oil.

Rupee falls 6 paise to settle at 83.44 against U.S. dollar

The rupee declined 6 paise to settle at 83.44 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar, in line with deep losses in equity markets.

However, weakening crude oil prices in the international markets and positive domestic macroeconomic data restricted the rupee’s fall, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.46 and traded between 83.42 and 83.47 against the greenback. The local unit finally settled at 83.44 (provisional), registering a loss of 6 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee declined 7 paise to settle at 83.38 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.15% lower at 105.68.

Retail inflation declined to a five-month low of 4.85% in March, inching towards the Reserve Bank’s target of 4%, according to official data released on Friday.

India’s industrial production growth accelerated to a four-month high of 5.7% in February 2024, mainly due to the good performance of the mining sector, according to official data released on Friday.

The Income Tax Department on Friday said the amended India-Mauritius protocol on double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) is yet to be ratified and notified by the department.

India and Mauritius on March 7, 2024, signed an amendment to the DTAA and included a principal purpose test (PPT) in the pact which aims to curtail tax avoidance by ensuring that treaty benefits are granted only for transactions with a bona fide purpose.