Modi’s speech triggers massive stock market collapse in India
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Mumbai: Indian stock markets witnessed a sharp collapse on Monday after Narendra Modi urged citizens to reduce fuel consumption and avoid buying gold amid growing tensions in West Asia. The Prime Minister’s remarks triggered panic selling across multiple sectors, dragging benchmark indices into deep losses by the end of trading.
The BSE Sensex crashed more than 1,300 points to close at 76,008.22, while the NIFTY 50 plunged nearly 360 points to settle at 23,811. Investors dumped shares aggressively as fears grew over the economic impact of geopolitical instability and weakening consumer demand.
Jewellery and petroleum stocks were among the worst hit after the Prime Minister’s appeal. Shares of Kalyan Jewellers and Senco Gold tumbled between 7.6 per cent and 11 per cent. Oil sector companies, including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, also suffered losses of around 2.6 per cent.
The panic spread further into tourism and hospitality counters, with stocks of Indian Hotels Company Limited, Chalet Hotels and Thomas Cook India falling more than five percent.
All 16 major sectoral indices ended in the red amid heavy selling pressure. The Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.9 per cent, while the Midcap index declined 0.93 per cent. The fall in the rupee and the withdrawal of ₹4,110.60 crore by foreign investors in a single trading session further intensified the market rout. Several Asian markets also faced similar pressure amid fears linked to the West Asian crisis.
