India's Sensex on Track for Worst Day in a Year -- Market Talk

Dow Jones03-19 13:43

0543 GMT - India's Sensex is on track for its largest single-day loss since April 2025 amid renewed risk-off sentiment. Escalating Middle East tensions, surging Brent crude prices and the Fed's hawkish stance, indicating fewer rate cuts, are dragging down equities, says Devarsh Vakil at HDFC Securities. The Iran war has particularly rattled Indian markets, as the country is a major energy importer with limited strategic reserves, leaving it vulnerable to energy price swings. The rupee has hit record lows against the dollar, as aggressive importer demand triggered a sharp selloff, Vakil adds. Indian banks are among the biggest decliners in late-morning trading, with HDFC Bank down 4.5% after its chairman stepped down. Bajaj Finance falls 3.5% and Axis Bank loses 2.7%. Energy stocks are also lower, with Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum down 4.6% and 3.0%, respectively. Petronet LNG sheds 3.8%. The benchmark Sensex falls 2.1% to 75064.21. (jason.chau@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2026 01:43 ET (05:43 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap
Leave a comment