Larsen & Toubro tanks 7%; stock records sharpest intra-day fall in 11 mths

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) share price today

 

Share price of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) plunged 7 per cent to ₹3,960.20 on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade, its sharpest intra-day decline in the past 11 months. Earlier, on April 7, 2025, L&T had tanked 9 per cent in intra-day deals.

 

At 10:13 AM; L&T was the top loser among the Sensex, Nifty shares and quoted 5.4 per cent lower at ₹4,049.30 on the BSE. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down 1.3 per cent at 80,263.

 

With today’s decline, the stock price of L&T has corrected 11 per cent from its all-time high level of ₹4,440 touched on February 24, 2026.

 

Why civil construction’s major fell 7 per cent in intra-day trade?

 

The rapid deterioration in Middle East stability has triggered a broad risk-off sentiment across global markets, prompting investors to shift toward safe-haven assets. The US and Israeli strikes on Iran heightened fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

 

India and the Middle East are key markets for the L&T, especially for its Projects and Manufacturing businesses. Out of the international order book of ₹3.57 trillion, around 75 per cent is from the Middle East, L&T said in the Q3 earnings conference call on January 28, 2026.

 

The growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is expected to remain relative buoyant in 2026 with real GDP expansion projected in the 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent range. 

 

In Saudi Arabia and the UAE, capital deployment remains oriented towards priority transformation agendas, including large-scale investments in digital and AI-enabling infrastructures such as data centers and cloud capacity alongside ongoing urban development and infrastructure initiatives. The region is also seeing sustained investment momentum in gas and renewable energy projects, reflecting long-term energy diversification goals, L&T had said.

 

Meanwhile, L&T continues to benefit from robust domestic capex, rising private sector investments, and growing opportunities in defence, green energy, and technology services. With a healthy order book, improving margins, and disciplined capital allocation, the company remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable growth over the medium to long term, believe analysts.

 

Going ahead, with the US tariff situation normalization and the EU-FTA deal, companies see the business environment improving. Analysts at ICICI Securities believe with strong backlog; order inflow prospects and improving margins will keep strong trends for profitability for Q4FY26E-FY28E. L&T is top pick from the capital goods sector, it said.

 

Meanwhile, the uncertainty related to the war in the West Asia will loom large over the market in the near-term, according to Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

 

“Experience tells us that panic selling during a crisis is wrong strategy. Investors should refrain from selling and watch how things evolve. Data from crises during the last many decades tells us that an event like the present crisis will not have any impact on the market six months later. This is the takeaway from the market behaviour after the recent crises like the Covid crisis, Russia-Ukraine war and the Gaza conflict,” said Dr. VK Vijaykumar.

 

The ongoing West Asian crisis is unlikely to be different. However, since a war can spring unexpected surprises, investors have to be cautious.  Weakness in the market can be used to slowly accumulate high quality stocks in domestic consumption themes like banking, automobiles, capital goods and defense, added Dr. VK Vijaykumar.    =======================================  Disclaimer: View and outlook shared on the stock belong to the respective brokerages and are not endorsed by Business Standard. Readers discretion is advised.