Stock market crash today: BSE Sensex and Nifty50, the Indian equity benchmark indices, plunged in trade on Monday. While BSE Sensex plunged over 1,100 points, Nifty50 went below the 24,000 mark. At 10:53 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 78,552.73, down 1,171 points or 1.47%. Nifty50 was at 23,918.00, down 386 points or 1.59%.
Indian stock markets started lower, with banking, financial, and IT sectors leading the decline. Investor sentiment remained cautious due to the upcoming U.S. presidential election and potential Federal Reserve rate adjustments.
The total market value of BSE-listed companies decreased by Rs 5.56 lakh crore, reaching Rs 442.54 lakh crore in early trading, according to an ET report.
Major decliners included Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Sun Pharma, collectively causing a 420-point drop in the Sensex. Additional pressure came from L&T, Axis Bank, TCS, and Tata Motors.
Various sector indices experienced declines ranging from 0.5% to 1.7%, including Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, IT, Pharma, Metal, Realty, Consumer Durables, and Oil & Gas. The India VIX increased by 5.2% to 16.73.
Why BSE Sensex, Nifty50 have crashed today
1. The upcoming U.S. presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has created uncertainty. The election outcome could influence U.S. Federal Reserve policies and subsequently affect Indian interest rates.
“In the next couple of days markets globally will be focused on the US presidential elections and there can be near-term volatility in response to the election outcome. However, this is likely to be short-lived and economic fundamentals like US growth, inflation and the Fed action will influence the market trend,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
2. The Federal Reserve’s November 7 policy meeting adds to market uncertainty, with expectations of a possible rate cut affecting investor behavior.
3. Lower-than-expected Q2 corporate earnings have impacted market sentiment. “The Indian market is facing headwinds from decelerating earnings growth. Nifty EPS growth as indicated by Q2 results may dip below 10% in FY25 which will render the present valuations of about 24 times estimated FY25 earnings, difficult to sustain. FIIs may continue to sell in this difficult earnings growth environment, constraining any rally in the market,” said Vijayakumar.
4. Oil prices increased over $1 early Monday after OPEC+ postponed its December output increase. Brent futures rose $1.18 (1.61%) to $74.28 per barrel, while WTI crude increased $1.20 (1.73%) to $70.69. OPEC+ delayed its planned 180,000 bpd increase due to weak demand and rising non-OPEC+ supply.