Stock Market Today:  The domestic equity indices nosedived nearly 2 per cent in the opening hour on March 23 amid worsening geopolitical situations in the Middle East. BSE Sensex started the session with a huge gap-down of over 800 points at 73,732.58 against last day's closing of 74,532.96, while Nifty 50 opened at 22,824.35, down over 300 points as compared to last day's closing of 23,114.50.

Escalating the losing streak further, Sensex fell over 1,300 points to a low of 72,977.34, while Nifty50 plunged over 400 points to a low of 22,634.55 in early trade.

At the time of writing, Sensex was trading at 73,216.42, down 1316.54 points or 1.77 per cent. While Nifty50 was quoted at 22,710.85, down 396.30 or 1.71 per cent.

"With the war in West Asia getting into the fourth week, there is no clarity on when the war will end. Unfortunately, the war is escalating with President Trump giving an ultimatum to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours," said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.
 
"The Iranian president’s response that 'the Strait of Hormuz is open to all except those who violate our soil' has prevented panic in the oil market. However, the uncertainty is huge, and markets will be waiting and watching the outcome.  It is important to understand that the huge risk-off globally has impacted all assets, including stocks, bonds and precious metals like gold and silver. In fact, the crash in the safe-haven gold is worse than in equities," Vijaykumar said. 
 

Top Losers

Except for HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and TCS, all other stocks from the Sensex basket were trading in negative territory with Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, SBI, Adani Ports, BEL, Titan, HDFC Bank, Indigo, Mahindra And Mahindra, L&T, Ultratech Bharti Airtel, Trent, Axis Bank, Asian Paint, ITC and Hindustan Unsilver being the top losers.

Crude Price 

The crude price continues to trade over Rs $110 per barrel amid supply chain disruption due to the closure of strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing war in the Middle East. At the time of writing, Brent Crude was at the level of $113 per barrel.