Stock Market Crash Erases ₹4.5 Lakh Crore as Sensex Plunges 900 Points

A severe sell-off hit the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday afternoon, wiping out over ₹4.48 lakh crore (preliminary estimate) in investor wealth as banking and IT heavyweights dragged equity indices lower.

The BSE Sensex plummeted 910.18 points, or 1.22%, to trade at 73,819.09 by 2:00 PM. Meanwhile, the benchmark NSE Nifty50 fell 269.75 points, or 1.17 %, slipping near the 22,850 mark at 22,876.40. The sharp drop caused the overall market capitalisation of all BSE-listed entities to shrink from ₹473.47 trillion at Friday's close to ₹468.99 trillion.

Banking and IT earnings trigger heavy selling

Selling pressure intensified following mixed second-quarter (Q2 FY27) earnings reports from major financial institutions. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and Infosys emerged as the primary drag on the Nifty50 index, forcing the Nifty Private Bank index into the deepest loss among sectoral gauges.

The broader markets also reflected the bearish sentiment. The Nifty MidCap 100 dropped 0.65%, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 traded 0.64 % lower. Contrasting the overall trend, the Nifty PSU Bank index bucked the downward momentum to post moderate gains during afternoon trade.

Corporate results fuel volatile stock movements

Individual stocks experienced sharp swings based on corporate financial disclosures:

• UltraTech Cement: Shares dropped 2.9% despite reporting a 21.3% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to ₹1,493.77 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2026.

• Tejas Networks: The stock fell 4.5% to ₹453.20 on the NSE after revealing a net loss of ₹207 crore for the second quarter.

• Natco Pharma: Shares jumped over 2% following the official launch announcement of Carboplatin in the US market.

• Kross: The share price rallied 20% to hit an intraday high of ₹326.80 after net profit after tax more than doubled to ₹19.69 crore.

Primary market activity remains active

Amid the secondary market slump, primary market action showed resilience. The ₹5,012.33 crore initial public offering (IPO) of Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses achieved full subscription on its final bidding day on Monday. Exchange data confirmed the issue was subscribed 1.25 times by 2:20 PM, largely propelled by strong bids from qualified institutional buyers.

Macroeconomic factors including elevated global crude oil prices and bond yield volatility continued to weigh on overall market sentiment through the afternoon session.