Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp selloff on Monday, June 23, as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East rattled investor sentiment globally. The benchmark BSE Sensex nosedived 840 points in early trade, while the NSE Nifty50 index broke below the key psychological mark of 25,000, hitting an intraday low of 24,858.
As of 9:40 am, the Sensex was down 721 points, or 0.9%, at 81,690. The Nifty50 slipped 218 points, or 0.87%, to 24,895.
The sharp decline was driven by global turmoil after the United States launched airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, joining Israel’s ongoing military campaign. President Donald Trump, in an address from the White House, claimed Iran’s nuclear capabilities were “completely and fully obliterated.” While the damage remains unverified, fears of further escalation and retaliatory actions by Iran have sent shockwaves through global financial markets.
The possibility of Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz—a key global oil passage—fueled a spike in crude prices. Brent crude surged 2.6%, after jumping as much as 5.7% in intraday trade. Gold prices also climbed 0.8% as investors sought safe-haven assets amid growing uncertainty.
Asian markets echoed the turmoil, with Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.52%, China’s Shanghai Composite down 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipping 0.78%, and South Korea’s KOSPI declining 0.7%.
Back home, the selling pressure was broad-based. All major sectoral indices on the NSE were in the red, with the Nifty IT index taking the biggest hit, down 1.68%. Nifty Auto, Financial Services, Metal, and Oil & Gas also fell between 0.5% and 1%.
Mid- and small-cap indices witnessed relatively milder declines. The Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.32%, while the Smallcap 100 index fell 0.10%.
On the Nifty50, Infosys emerged as the top loser, sliding 2.83% to ₹1,577 after Accenture reported a 6% drop in new bookings. Other major losers included Shriram Finance (-2.35%), JSW Steel (-1.82%), TCS (-1.80%), Hero MotoCorp (-1.69%), and M&M (-1.59%).
Among gainers, Bharat Electronics, Nestle, Trent, and ONGC managed to buck the broader negative trend and closed in the green.
