Stock Markets Closed for Holi After Sharp Sell-Off, Global Tensions Weigh

Trading in equities, equity derivatives, securities lending and borrowing and interest rate derivatives will be suspended for the day, exchanges said on Tuesday. Commodity derivatives will be closed in the morning and open for the evening session.

On Monday, Sensex lost 1,048 points, or 1.29 per cent, to reach 80,238 and Nifty dropped 312 points, or 1.24 per cent to settle at 24,865 at market close, amid investor concerns over tensions in West Asia.

Main broad-cap indices performed in line with the benchmark indices, as the Nifty Midcap 100 declined 1.58 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 lost 1.75 per cent.

All sectoral indices traded in red except Nifty metal and pharma up 0.24 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively. Auto and consumer durables were among top losers, down 2.20 per cent and 2.15 per cent, respectively. Oil and gas as well as PSU bank plummeted 2.15 per cent and 1.84 per cent, respectively.

Analysts said that the immediate support for Nifty is placed at 24,600, while resistance is seen at 25,000.

Oil prices continued to rise after Iran reportedly said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, with US crude futures up 1.4 per cent to $72.23. Brent crude gained 1.87 per cent to trade at $79.2 per barrel in early session on Tuesday.

Over 14 million barrels transited via the Strait each day on average last year, amounting to nearly a third of the world's overall seaborne crude exports.

In early trade on Tuesday, China's Shanghai index lost 0.07 per cent, and Shenzhen dipped 1.05 per cent, Japan's Nikkei declined 2.48 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index eased 0.26 per cent. South Korea's Kospi lost 5.29 per cent.

The US markets ended largely in green overnight as Nasdaq added 0.36 per cent. The S&P 500 gained 0.04 per cent, and the Dow Jones declined 0.15 per cent.

On March 2, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 3,296 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 8,594 crore.

- IANS