Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on Monday as investors offloaded finance, utility and energy stocks amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and surging crude oil prices overseas.Investors stayed on the sidelines and refrained from taking big risks amid huge uncertainty due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, analysts said.The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 483.24 points or 0.73 per cent to settle at 65,512.39.
The Nifty declined 141.15 points or 0.72 per cent to end at 19,512.35.Only three Sensex stocks traded in the green, while the Nifty-50 saw its 43 stocks closing in the red.Mahindra & Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, sliding 2.05 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, SBI, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan.
Elsewhere in Asian markets, Hang Seng was trading 0.19 per cent higher. Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.41 per cent, while Taiwan T SEC 50 Index was up 0.28 per cent. The Japanese stock markets were closed on Monday.European markets were trading on a mixed note. Germany’s DAX declined 0.50 per cent, and France’s CAC 40 was down 0.27 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.26 per cent higher.The US markets ended higher on Friday with S&P 500 closing with a gain of 1.18 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average Index up 0.87 per cent.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude rose sharply by 3.32 per cent to USD 87.39 a barrel on Monday.Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 90.29 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.The BSE benchmark had climbed 364.06 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 65,995.63 points on Friday. The Nifty had advanced 107.75 points or 0.55 per cent to end at 19,653.50.