Rising geopolitical tensions in Middle East unsettle markets; Sensex dips 2000 points with investors losing ₹10 lakh crore

STC NEWS MONITORING DESK
MUMBAI, MARCH 02 (STC): The Sensex has lost over 2,000 points in just three sessions today, wiping out ₹10 lakh crore in investor wealth. As many as 869 stocks hit their 52-week lows today. In the Sensex index, only three stocks ended with gains.
The benchmark Sensex lost 1,048 points, or 1.29%, to end at 80,238.85. The NSE counterpart, the Nifty 50, settled at 24,865.70, down 313 points, or 1.24%.
In these three sessions, the Sensex has lost 2,037 points, or 2.5%, and investors have become poorer by more than ₹10 lakh crore as the cumulative market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to below ₹457 lakh crore on Monday from ₹467.4 lakh crore on Wednesday, February 25.
It’s worth mentioning that as many as 869 stocks hit their 52-week lows on the BSE.
94 stocks, including ONGC, SAIL, Hitachi Energy India, and Bharat Forge, hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.
In the Sensex index, only three stocks- BEL (up 2.09%), Sun Pharma (up 0.84%), and ITC (up 0.38%)- ended higher.
“Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have unsettled global markets, with concerns over the possible extension of the situation given the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Rising crude oil prices and a weakening INR reflect concerns over potential disruptions to oil supply, which could increase inflationary pressures in India and impact fiscals and strain margins for energy and chemical-dependent sectors,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, noted.
According to Shrikant Chouhan, the head of equity research at Kotak Securities, the current market texture is weak but oversold. Therefore, there is a possibility of a technical bounce-back from the current levels.

(Straight Talk Communications I Inputs from Agencies)