Indian equity markets showed signs of recovery on Monday after a volatile start to trading amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Investors were rattled by a rapidly evolving situation involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which sparked heavy selling in early trade before markets regained some composure.
At around 9:00 am, the BSE Sensex plunged nearly 7 percent and the Nifty 50 sank close to 3 percent, as traders digested the risk of a wider conflict after coordinated military strikes by the US and Israel on Iranian targets and subsequent counter-moves by Tehran. This sharp reaction reflected investors’ fears over potential disruption to global energy supplies, higher crude prices and broader economic uncertainty.
By 10:16 am, losses had moderated considerably as bargain buying emerged and some risk-on flows returned. The Sensex was trading at 80,300.09, down 987.09 points or 1.21 percent, while the Nifty 50 stood at 24,885.25, lower by 293.40 points or 1.17 percent. Although markets were still under pressure, the scale of decline was much smaller than the early session lows.
Analysts said that the initial sell-off was driven largely by investors reacting to the fast-changing geopolitical situation in West Asia and the risk of higher crude oil prices — which could feed into inflation and hurt economic growth — rather than any domestic market-specific trigger.
Crude oil prices surged sharply on the back of the conflict, as fears of supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz pushed the energy complex higher. Safe-haven assets such as gold and government bonds also attracted flows as markets priced in elevated uncertainty. Market volatility is expected to persist as investors continue to monitor developments in the Middle East and their potential impact on global trade, commodity prices and foreign investment flows.