The Indian stock market witnessed a brutal crash on Monday morning as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East rattled investors worldwide. Amidst negative cues from the Iran-Israel conflict and rising crude oil prices, the BSE Sensex tanked over 1,800 points within minutes of opening. Simultaneously, the NSE Nifty 50 took a massive hit, sliding nearly 575 points to trade at the 22,538 level.

The sell-off was so intense that all 30 large-cap stocks on the Sensex opened in the red. Sensex plummeted from its previous close of 74,532 to hit a low of 72,724, while Nifty crashed from 23,114 to 22,538. Leading the losers’ pack were giants like Tata Steel (down 4%), SBI (down 3%), Bajaj Finance, and HDFC Bank, all shedding over 2.5%.

Panic was not limited to India; Asian markets were in a freefall. Japan’s Nikkei crashed by 4.10%, while South Korea’s KOSPI recorded a staggering 5.10% decline. With oil supplies under threat and global uncertainty at its peak, the “Black Monday” crash has wiped out trillions in market capitalization. Investors are now closely watching the developments in the Middle East as the threat of a full-scale regional war looms large.