Sensex Finishes at Over 6-Week Low

India’s BSE Sensex closed about 0.5% down at 76,132.8 on Monday, the lowest in over six weeks, reversing gains from the previous session. Extended US–Iran hostilities, elevated crude oil prices and Fed rate hike worries weighed on market sentiment. The cautious tone was reinforced by foreign institutional investors, who remained net sellers of equities on Friday. Rate-sensitive technology stocks bore the brunt of the selloff, with IT heavyweights including Infosys, Tech Mahindra and HCLTech falling between 0.9% and 3.8%. Infrastructure, telecom and defence stocks proved more resilient. L&T (0.6%) and Bharti Airtel (0.6%) were the standout performers.

The SENSEX Index fell 383 points or 0.50 percent on Monday to close at 76133 points. Leading the losses are Infosys (-3.78%), Tech Mahindra (-2.40%) and Tata Steel (-2.01%). Top gainers were Maruti Suzuki (0.58%), Bharti Airtel (0.39%) and Power Grid (0.38%).

India’s BSE Sensex edged down about 0.2% to 76,350 at the open on Monday, reversing gains from the previous session, weighed by weakness in the technology sector. Indian shares also came under pressure as investors assessed the prospect of higher US interest rates following stronger-than-expected US labour-market data, while Brent crude near $97 a barrel raised concerns over India’s import bill and inflation. Investors were also watching changes to pre-open session rules, which could increase volatility around the market open. Among individual stocks, Tata Consultancy Services shares fell 0.8% and remained in focus after the IT major announced plans to invest 700 billion rupees in an AI data-centre campus in Telangana, underscoring continued investment in AI infrastructure despite near-term concerns over US demand. Other notable laggards included Jindal Worldwide (-5.8%), New India Assurance (-1.5%), Infosys (-2.5%), Steel Authority of India (-3.2%), and HDFC Bank (-0.3%).