Sensex tanks 600 pts, Nifty below 21,850 amid Iran-Israel tensions; VIX jumps 10%

Equity markets roiled under selling pressure on Friday as tensions flared up in the Middle East with Israel likely striking Iran at three locations.

The S&P BSE Sensex crashed 599 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 71,890 levels, while the Nifty50 plunged to 21,822 levels, down 174 points or 0.79 per cent.

28 of 30 Sensex stocks, and 44 of 50 Nifty stocks slipped, dragged by BPCL, HPCL, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Axis Bank, L&T, Nestle India, SBI Life, LTI Mindtree, TCS, HCL tech, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, and SBI. All these stock prices were down in the range of 1 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and Smallcap indices fell 1 per cent each.

The sell-off was broad-based with the Nifty PSU bank (down 1.7 per cent), Media (down 1.4 per cent), and It (down 1.2 per cent) leading the losses.