Mumbai, India — March 23, 2026
India’s stock market opened sharply lower on Monday, triggering significant losses for investors as Sensex and Nifty tumbled amid rising global uncertainty and a shift toward safer assets.
The week began on a weak note, erasing the previous session’s gains. In early trading, the BSE Sensex plunged 1,555.62 points to 72,977.34, while the NSE Nifty dropped 479.95 points to 22,634.55.
On Friday, markets had closed higher, with Sensex gaining 325.72 points to settle at 74,532.96 and Nifty rising 112.35 points to end at 23,114.50. However, the positive trend reversed sharply at the start of the new week.
The sharp fall led to heavy losses for investors, with market participants seeing significant erosion in portfolio values during the early session.
Analysts attribute the decline to a global “risk-off” sentiment, where investors are pulling money out of equities and moving toward safer options such as the US dollar.
Supporting this trend, assets under management (AUM) in US money market funds have crossed $8 trillion, indicating strong demand for low-risk investments amid ongoing market volatility.
The sharp decline underscores heightened uncertainty in global financial markets, with investors closely monitoring macroeconomic signals and capital flows.
