Sensex Today | Highlights: Markets crash to 11-month low; Nifty struggles around 23,000, Sensex plunges 2,500 points

The domestic equity indices broke their winning streak. The cut got deeper in the last trading hours. The Nifty 50 settled 775.65 points or 3.26% lower at 23,0002, saving the psychologically important level of 23,000. The 30-stock index tumbled 2,496.89 points or 3.26% to end the session at 74,207.24.

Except for ONGC, none of the stocks was trading in the green in the Nifty 50, up 1.5%. Shriram Finance is the biggest loser in the 50-stock basket, falling 6.9%. It was followed by Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, and other stocks.

The cut in Indian equity markets has deepened, with the Nifty 50 dropping almost 800 points or 3.33% to trade below 23,000. The BSE Sensex declined more than 2,500 points or 3.38% to trade at 74,112.

As the US Fed chief Powell bluntly said, if there’s no progress on inflation, then there won't be a rate cut. It was tariffs till yesterday, and now, the Oil shock is leading to higher inflation.  The projections of core PCE inflation were also revised upwards to 2.7%, leading to limited room for rate cuts this year. 

This led IT stocks to eke out losses of over 4%. The Nifty IT has dropped over 3% in today’s trade. The mid-IT stocks saw the highest drop in stock prices, with Mphasis, Coforge, Infosys, etc. 

At this hour, the Indian stock market is trading sharply lower, with the Sensex down 1,846.18 points, or 2.41%, at 74,857.95, while the Nifty 50 has fallen 586.25 points, or 2.47%, to 23,191.55.

The Nifty Realty followed suit, declining more than 3%. Godrej Properties was the most sold stock in the realty basket, dropping over 4%. It was followed by DLF, Prestige Estate, Anant Raj, Lodha Developers, Brigade Enterprises, and many other realty stocks.

In the Nifty sectoral space, all sectors are trading in the red in the intraday session. The Nifty Auto index has fallen over 3%, while Financials are down more than 2%, and Realty has dropped over 3%.

The Nifty Information Technology and Consumer Durables indices are both down around 2%, while FMCG, Media, Pharma, and Metal are trading lower by 1-2%.

The share price of Adani Total Gas rallied 12.5% to an intra-day high of Rs 580 on the National Stock Exchange. The shout up in the stock prices came in a weak market. This surge in cotuner's price could be because of Indian government prioritising gas for essential sectors (CNG for transportation, PNG for households, and LPG production), strengthening investor confidence in City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies.

At this hour, the market is trading sharply lower, with the Sensex down 1,726.83 points or 2.25% at 74,977.30, the Nifty falling 531.65 points or 2.24% to 23,246.15, and the Bank Nifty also under pressure, declining 1,420 points or 2.57% to 53,905.70.

At this hour, the key laggards from the Sensex 30 pack include IndiGo, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Eternal, all trading in the red. IndiGo is down around 3.3%, Larsen & Toubro has slipped nearly 3.7%, while Bajaj Finance is lower by about 3.8%. HDFC Bank is also under pressure, falling over 4.5%, and Eternal is the top loser among them, declining close to 5%.

CLSA has a 'high conviction Ourperform' rating on Persistent and Coforge

CLSA rated Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra and LTI Mindtree as 'Outperform.'

CLSA has a 'Hold' rating on HCLTech and Wipro.

CLSA, in a note issued on the IT sector on March 18, said that it does not anticipate any "increase in AI-led deflation" in Q4.

According to CLSA, after speaking to 4 leading IT services firms TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech, they find "no evidence of increased deflation in renewal contracts due to the latest AI tools from Anthropic and OpenAI since their launch."

The brokerage house believes that "vertical-wise demand commentary remains intact with BFSI continuing to see tailwinds for all four companies; tech is doing well for HCL and TCS and the retail, auto and healthcare verticals remain soft. A few companies flagged a slight delay in decision-making by clients due to the launch of the latest AI tools to explore their true potential and due to the ensuing Middle East crises."

CLSA added that deal pipeline remain strong and valuations for India’s IT sector at its 10-year average now look highly attractive.

Also Read: Infosys, TCS to Coforge: CLSA says AI disruption fears overblown; sees over 100% upside potential

In a weak market, a few stocks managed to stay in the green. Power Grid Corporation of India was up around 0.45%, while Reliance Industries gained about 0.44%. NTPC also edged higher by nearly 0.40%, standing out as some of the few stocks trading positive amid the broader market decline.

All the constituents of the Nifty Auto were trading in the red. The automobile index was the third major loser among the sectoral indices. Samvardhana Motherson International has lost the most, dropping 3.33%. Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors PV, Tube Investments of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, etc. followed suit.

In the early trading hours, markets were under sharp pressure, with the Sensex falling 1,748.72 points or 2.28% to 74,955.41, while the Nifty dropped 538.40 points or 2.26% to 23,239.40.

"The uncertainty surrounding the war has turned worse with Israel hitting the world’s largest LNG refinery in Iran. Brent crude has shot up to $111. This is bad news for oil and gas importers like India. If Brent remains above $110 for an extended period of time, that will have negative implications for India’s macros. India’s GDP growth and corporate earnings in FY27, too, will be impacted. But this scenario need not play out in the fast changing scenario.

A prolonged war is no one’s interest. Therefore, a sudden end to the war bringing crude prices sharply down cannot be ruled out." Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments added.

Meanwhile, the Fed has held the rates unchanged as expected. The mildly hawkish stance of the Fed, too, was expected. The negative reaction of the US market was more in response to the escalation of the war rather than the Fed’s commentary," he added.

"After coming to the vicinity of the 10-day SMA, bullish exhaustion became visible yesterday, having run up nearly 900 points in the span of three days. We will now wait for a break below 23,111, Monday’s open, to signal a collapse. Until then, expect wild swings, with VIX near 19. The upswings that may be expected early in the day may require pushing above 23,450 to see strength," said Geojit Investments in a research note ahead of markets opening.

"Technically, immediate support for Bank Nifty is seen in the 54,200–54,000 zone, while resistance lies between 55,600 and 55,700. The RSI stands at 35.11, indicating that the index is still near oversold territory. A sustained upward move from these levels would signal improving strength in the trend," said Hitesh Tailor, Research Analyst at Choice Equity Broking. However, the bank-heavy index has breached the 54,000 level in the morning trade itself, as HDFC Bank's part-time chairman resigned, citing ethical misconduct.

The sell-off is so strong that none of the sectoral indices is trading even near the flat line. The Realty index was hurt badly, dropping 2.87%. The private bank index lost 2.65% as soon as markets opened, with HDFC Bank being the biggest loser. It was followed by IDFC First Bank, Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and others.

India's volatility index has jumped significantly in today's early trading hours. India VIX skyrocketed 14% to 21.34, near its 52-week high level of 24.49.

Indian equity indices cracked in the opening trade on Thursday. The Nifty 50 slipped 443 points or 1.86% to open at 23,334.75, while the BSE Sensex tumbled 1,461 .86 points or 1.91% to open at 75,242.

The banking index saw the highest cut among the major indices, cracking 2.67% or 1,477.70 points to 53,848. The Nifty Midcap 100 opened 945 points or 1.68% lower at 55,344.75.

In the last trading session, The Manipal Group led the gains with a rise of about 7.5%, followed by Jaypee Group up 6.6% and Oswal Group gaining nearly 5.8%. On the other hand, Essar Group slipped around 1.3%, Indiabulls Group declined about 1.4%, and Vedanta Group fell over 2%.

As HDFC Bank's interim chairman resigned, citing ethical issues, the private lender has kept an analyst and investor call at 9 AM today, March 19.

"We wish to inform you that the Bank will host a call with analysts and investors at 09:00 hours (IST) on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in relation to the intimation made by the Bank on March 18, 2026," said the bank in an exchange filing.

"We believe the market has completed a portion of the pullback rally, and we may see some profit booking at higher levels. For day traders. On the downside, 23,600 and 23,500 will be immediate support zones, while 23,950–24,000 could act as important resistance areas for bulls. However, below 23,500, sentiment could change. If the index falls below these levels, traders may choose to exit their long positions as the Index may fall to 23,100-22,950-22,650," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.

As expected, the US Fed kept rates unchanged at 3.5%–3.75% in an 11-1 vote. The Federal Reserve’s dot plot indicates that the policymakers are still hoping for two rate cuts. First one in 2026 and another in 2027, unchanged from December projections.

On the derivatives front, the Put–Call Ratio (PCR) stands near 0.92, indicating relatively balanced positioning, with significant call open interest at 24,800 and 25,000 capping the upside, while put writers are active around 24,500, establishing it as an immediate support base. "The overall structure suggests the index may witness a pullback toward 25,080–25,320 if it sustains above 24,500, whereas a break below this level could once again expose the index to downside risk toward 24,300," said Dhupesh Dhameja, Derivatives Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities.

HDFC Bank's American Depository Receipts dropped 7.5% after the bank's part-time chairman and independent director, Atanu Chakraborty, resigned with immediate effect. HDFC Bank has appointed Keki Mistry, the former CEO of HDFC, as the interim part-time chairman, with effect from March 19, 2026, for a period of 3 months, following the approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In the last trading session, several sectors saw strong gains. The paper sector led with a rise of about 5.1%, followed by education up 4.3%. Small finance and leather sectors also gained around 3.7% each.

"The Indian equity market is expected to open with a sharp gap-down, with Nifty 50 likely to decline by 300–500 points, potentially snapping its recent three-session recovery rally amid rising global risk aversion. Sentiment has weakened significantly following a sharp surge in crude oil prices, as escalating tensions in the Middle East and reported attacks on key energy infrastructure have intensified concerns over supply disruptions," said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.

"Global cues remain decisively negative, with widespread selling pressure evident across major markets. Asian equities have reacted sharply, as the Nikkei declined 2.68% and the KOSPI fell 2.87%, mirroring overnight weakness on Wall Street. U.S. markets closed lower, with the Dow Jones dropping 1.63% and the Nasdaq declining 1.46%. European indices also closed lower, with the FTSE 100 and DAX slipping around 1%, underscoring a broad-based risk-off sentiment across developed markets," he added.

In the international market, gold was trading at $4,841 per ounce.

Gold prices in India remain in sharp focus. On the MCX, April 2, 2026, gold futures were trading at Rs 1,53,001 per 10 grams in the latest update.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, was trading 0.14% down at 100.15 on Thursday morning. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar in comparison to major currencies. The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, etc. The rupee appreciated 0.25% to close at 92.63 to the dollar on March 18.