West Asia worries send benchmark indices to six-month low; third 1% plunge in 10 sessions

Indian equity markets came under renewed selling pressure on Monday as escalating uncertainty over the West Asia conflict weighed on investor sentiment after the U.S. rejected proposals for a ceasefire.

The benchmark Sensex fell 1.52% to close at 72,771.72 points, while the Nifty50 declined 1.6% to settle at 22,780.25, extending losses from the previous session.

The indices opened nearly 100 points below their previous closes and slipped further during morning trade, with the Sensex briefly nearing the 72,000 mark and the Nifty approaching 22,000 levels by around 10:30 am. The benchmarks remained largely range-bound near the day’s lows before closing lower.

Monday’s decline marked the second instance in the past five trading sessions and the third in the last ten sessions when the benchmark indices fell more than 1%, highlighting renewed weakness after a prolonged phase of range-bound movement.