Stock Market Today, June 8: Indian equity markets opened sharply lower on Monday, tracking weak global cues amid escalating tensions in West Asia, a surge in crude oil prices and a broad selloff across
Asian markets.
The Nifty 50 fell 290 points, or 1.24%, to 23,076.65 in early trade, while the BSE Sensex dropped 840 points, or 1.13%, to 73,403.06. Selling pressure was widespread, with midcap and smallcap stocks also witnessing sharp declines.
India VIX, the market’s fear gauge, jumped over 10% to 17.40, indicating heightened volatility.
Global Concerns Weigh on Sentiment
Investor sentiment turned cautious after a sharp 4.18% fall in the Nasdaq on Friday, which triggered weakness across technology-heavy Asian markets. The risk-off mood intensified following fresh hostilities in West Asia, with Iran reportedly launching missiles at Israel in retaliation to Israeli military action in Lebanon.
The geopolitical escalation pushed Brent crude oil prices above $96 per barrel, raising concerns over inflation and India’s import bill. Meanwhile, stronger-than-expected US jobs data has reduced expectations of an early rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
Broad-Based Selling Across Sectors
The weakness was visible across market segments. Realty, metal, auto and financial stocks were among the biggest losers, while pharma and healthcare stocks showed relative resilience.
Among Sensex constituents, Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra traded marginally higher, while IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, TCS and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major laggards.
Global Cues
Asian shares skidded Monday after worries about Big Tech investments and rising odds for an interest rate hike gave U.S. stocks their worst day since October. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 4.2% to 63,804.77. The Japanese government revised the annualized economic growth rate to 1.8% for the first quarter this year, down from an earlier estimate of 2.1%.
Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $3.50 to $96.59 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude surged $3.48 to $94.02 a barrel.
In other share trading, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 6.8% to 7,605.42 as Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company, dropped 7%. SK Hynix declined 3.3%. Taiwan’s Taiex lost 3.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.3% to 24,631.64. The Shanghai Composite shed 1.1% to 3,984.75.
Wall Street finished last week with the S&P 500 sinking 2.6%, to 7,383.74, after a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at some point this year. It was the biggest one-day drop since Oct. 10, when the Trump administration threatened to impose a 100% tariff on imported goods from China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4% to 50,866.78. The Nasdaq composite slumped 4.2% to 25,709.43.
What Experts Say
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said markets are facing strong headwinds from weak global cues and rising crude oil prices. However, he believes domestic institutional investors and retail participants could provide support if the market witnesses a steep opening decline.
He noted that India’s estimated FY26 GDP growth of 7.7%, better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and the recent appreciation in the rupee could help limit sustained foreign institutional investor selling.
Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said renewed tensions between Iran and Israel have weakened hopes of a lasting ceasefire and reinforced risk aversion across global markets. He added that continued foreign fund outflows and rising crude prices are likely to keep volatility elevated in the near term.
Technical Outlook
According to Aakash Shah, Technical Analyst at Choice Broking, Nifty continues to trade below all key moving averages and remains in a lower high-lower low formation, reflecting a weak technical structure.
The immediate support zone is seen around 23,100-23,000. A decisive breach below these levels could accelerate selling towards 22,700. On the upside, 23,500 remains the first hurdle, followed by a stronger resistance zone near 23,700.
Shah also pointed out that the Nifty Put-Call Ratio has declined to 0.83 from 1.00 in the previous session, indicating reduced bullish positioning and increasing caution among derivatives traders.
