Amid global rout in equities, Sensex sheds 360 points, Nifty closes below 17k

Due to a sell-off in financial, Technology, and capital goods shares amid a worldwide stock market meltdown brought on by persistent concerns about the banking crisis, the benchmark Sensex dropped by 360 points and the Nifty ended below the 17,000-level on Monday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 360.95 points, or 0.62 percent, to end the day at 57,628.55, with 23 of its stocks seeing negative closing prices. Before recovering some of its losses towards the fag end, the index plunged more than 900 points, reaching a low of 57,084.91.

The NSE's wider Nifty fell by 111.65 points, or 0.65%, to settle at 16,988.40, below the 17,000-level. Up to 40 Nifty stocks experienced declines, while 10 saw gains.

Experts claimed that despite efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to relieve a rapidly escalating financial crisis, investors worried about the US banking crisis.

"The fear of contagion of the financial crisis has kept investors away from the equity markets as the global market faces numerous hurdles. Despite Swiss regulators' intervention to protect the global financial system, investor sentiment remained shaky," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services was quoted as saying by PTI.

Bajaj Finserv experienced the largest decline on the Sensex, falling 4.08 per cent. Tata Steel fell by 2.2 per cent, Wipro by 2.09 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.96 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 1.9 per cent, SBI by 1.75 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.66 per cent, and HCL Tech by 1.20%. Bajaj Finance also had a fall of 3.01 per cent. Among the losers were TCS, Infosys, Power Grid, Maruti, Reliance, HDFC twins, L&T, M&M, NTPC, and Ultratech Cement.

Hindustan Unilever defied the trend and increased by 2.45% to become the highest Sensex gainer. Also closing higher were ITC, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, and Nestle.

Even as Swiss officials organised UBS's acquisition of Credit Suisse, stock markets around the world fell. Investors expressed alarm prior to a Federal Reserve meeting where decisions were made regarding potential future interest rate hikes.

"The market is now awaiting the outcome of the Fed meeting to see how they will respond to the ongoing crisis, particularly in terms of rate hikes. Investors expect the central bank to raise interest rates by 0-25 basis points," Nair was quoted as saying by PTI.

Business Standard reported that the collapse of US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, as well as the Swiss bank UBS's acquisition of Credit Suisse in Europe, were the main causes of Monday's market decline. Other important factors included the fallout from the Adani stocks, losses among index heavyweights, and the US Fed's upcoming meeting on rate hikes on Wednesday.