The Nifty traded below the 23,750 mark. All sectoral indices on the NSE were traded in the red, with PSU bank, auto and healthcare shares declining the most.
At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 2,235.28 points or 2.80% to 76,705.60. The Nifty 50 index fell 672.15 points or 2.75% to 23,778.30.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index dropped 3.59% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index slumped 3.74%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 561 shares rose and 2,769 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 6,030.38 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 6,971.51 crore in the Indian equity market on 06 March 2026, provisional data showed.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 20.82% to 24.02.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Reliance Industries shed 0.64%. The company said that Reliance Consumer Products has signed a memorandum of understanding with Finnish foods major Fazer to establish a long-term partnership to manufacture, market and distribute latter's premium chocolates in India.
Niraj Cement Structurals added 1.43% after the company has announced that it has secured a work order worth Rs 80.12 crore from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper jumped 0.81% to 6.742 compared with previous session close of 6.688.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 92.2700 compared with its close of 91.8200 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement declined 0.73% to Rs 160,459.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.63% to 99.60.
The United States 10-year bond yield gained 1.69% to 4.203.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2026 settlement climbed $23.06 cents or 24.88% to $115.75 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Markets in Asia tumbled across the board today as oil prices breached $110 per barrel for the first time since 2022.
In latest development on US-Iran war front, Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's late supreme leader, has been named his successor, Iranian state TV reportedly announced early on Monday, as the war that began a little over a week ago with his father's killing took a dramatic turn.
Monday saw South Korea's Kospi trigger its second circuit breaker in four sessions. The index plunged over 8%, triggering a 20-minute suspension in trading from 10.31 a.m. local time. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics plunged more than 10%, while chip counterpart SK Hynix shed 11.6%.
A circuit breaker was activated last week when the benchmark tumbled more than 12% Wednesday to record its worst single-day decline.
Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 6.48%, falling below the 53,000 mark for the first time since February 06, while the Topix was down 5.8%.
The surge comes after major Middle Eastern oil producers, including Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, cut oil production following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump, however, posted on Truth Social that a gain in 'short term oil prices' was a 'very small price to pay' for destroying Iran's nuclear threat. 'Only fools would think differently!' Trump added.
On Wall Street, stocks fell on Friday, adding to their weekly declines, as oil prices spiked and traders reacted to an unexpected drop in new U.S. jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 453.19 points, or 0.95%, to end at 47,501.55. The S&P 500 fell 1.33% and settled at 6,740.02. Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.59% and closed at 22,387.68.
Friday's surge in crude prices was triggered by Trump's comments. POTUS stated in a social media post that there won't be a deal to end the U.S.-Iran war without an 'unconditional surrender' from the Middle Eastern country.
Qatar's energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told the Financial Times that Gulf energy producers may need to call force majeure in the coming days, shutting down production in a move that could send oil to $150 a barrel. The conflict in the Middle East could 'bring down the economies of the world,' he warned.
Equities were also bogged down by the latest jobs data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 in February, a sharp contrast from the downwardly revised January gain of 126,000 and far below the growth of 50,000 that was widely reported expected number for the month. The unemployment rate also rose to 4.4% from 4.3%.
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