Stock market crash today (February 19): Indian stock markets witnessed sharp selling pressure on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as rising crude oil prices, escalating US-Iran tensions, and profit booking in banking and FMCG heavyweights triggered a broad-based decline.
The
BSE Sensex today tumbled 1,470 points to hit an intraday low of 82,264, crashing as much as 1,715 points from the day's high.
Similarly, the
Nifty 50 today fell 431 points to touch 25,389 after hitting a morning high of 25,885.
At close, the BSE Sensex index settled at 82,498, logging a steep decline of 1,236 points or 1.48 per cent. The NSE Nifty50, on the other hand, shut shop at 25,454, falling 365 points or 1.41 per cent.
In the broader market,
Nifty MidCap declined 1.59 per cent while
Nifty SmallCap slipped 1.27 per cent, indicating cautious sentiment across segments.
India VIX -- the volatility gauge of the NSE -- closed 11.84 per cent higher today.
"The bears took charge of the Indian market as rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran unsettled global sentiment leading to a broad based sell-off. Brent crude surged to its YTD high, exacerbating inflationary concerns and triggering heightened market volatility on fear of bottlenecking of Strait of Hormuz," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.
Uncertainty surrounding the US Fed's rate-cut trajectory and continued weakness in the INR, he added, impacted the domestic market.
Top gainers and losers today
48 of the 50 Nifty stocks were among
Nifty 50 losers today. These included IndiGo, Ultratech Cement, M&M, BEL, Trent, Baja Auto, Adani Ports, Grasim, Shriram Finance, Reliance Industries, Adani Enterprises, Eternal, Jio Financial Services, Power Grid, Kotak Bank, JSW Steel, and Tata Motors PV.
The shares fell in the range of 2-3 per cent.
On the other hand, ONGC, HDFC Life, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, were the only
top gainers, offering limited support to the benchmark indices.
Stock market crash, Feb 19: Why is the stock market falling today?
Brent crude prices rises to multi-month high
Oil prices were trading near multi-month highs on Thursday amid escalation in tensions between the United States and Iran. India, being an oil importer, will be negatively impacted if oil prices were to go up further.
Brent crude futures were quoting above the $71 per barrel-mark, up 1 per cent. WTI futures, meanwhile, added 1.15 per cent to trade around $65.9 per barrel-mark around noon.
Notably, both the benchmarks had settled more than 4 per cent higher on Wednesday, posting their highest settlements since January 30.
US-Iran tensions escalate
Commodity market watchers are closely tracking developments in the Middle East after Iran said it plans to launch rockets in areas across its south on Thursday from 0330 GMT to 1330 GMT (9:00 AM to 7:00 PM IST.
At the same time, the US said it has deployed warships near Iran, with US Vice President JD Vance saying Washington was weighing whether to continue diplomatic engagement with Tehran or pursue "another option". The United State' new threats against Tehran come after Iran and Russia announced joint naval drills in the Sea of Oman.
Separately, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz for a few hours on Tuesday. It remains unclear whether the waterway, which sees transportation of about 20 per cent of the world’s oil, has fully reopened or not.
Heavyweight stocks drag Sensex down
Markets are seeing profit booking after three consecutive sessions of gains where the BSE Sensex index jumped 1,107 points and the Nifty50 added 348 points.
Selling in index heavyweights significantly contributed to the decline. Shares of Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India weighed heavily on the indices.
These stocks, along with M&M, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Axis Bank, L&T and Kotak Bank, accounted for nearly 72.4 per cent of the Sensex’s decline today.
Technical levels to watch
According to Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, the Nifty index formed 'lower highs and lower lows' today. Technically, price action has slipped below the short-term support band of 25,645–25,660, which coincided with the 20-day EMA. "At this stage, the structure suggests a consolidation-to-corrective phase rather than a sharp trend reversal. A sustained hold above 25,300 may encourage range-bound movement, while a decisive breakdown below this level could open the door for a deeper corrective move toward 25,150," he said. On the upside, a recovery and close above 25,600 would be the first sign of renewed strength and potential stabilization, he added.
 "Stock market crash today: Sensex tanks 1,200 pts, Nifty slips below 25,500")
