Equity benchmark indices traded 1.5% lower on Monday as the United States and Iran escalated their threats against each other the subsequent impact on global markets. A day earlier, Iran no longer considers itself bound by the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with the United States and other world powers in the fallout from the killing of Gen Qassem Soleimani.
US President Donald Trump said he was prepared to strike in a disproportionate manner and attack more than 50 Iranian sites if Tehran retaliates against the killing of Soleimani. At 12:30 pm on Monday, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 636 points to 40,823 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 194 points at 12,032.
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All sectoral indices were in the red with Nifty PSU bank falling by 3.8Z%, metal by 2.6%, auto and realty by 2% each. Among stocks, Bajaj Finance crashed by 4.6% to Rs 3,998.40 per share while Coal India fell by 3.9%. State Bank of India slipped by 3.8%, Yes Bank by 3.2%, HDFC by 3.1% and Zee Entertainment by 3.6%.
Metal majors JSW Steel and Vedanta lost by 2.8% each. However, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Titan showed thin gains.
(With ANI Inputs)