BSE, NSE shut for Mahavir Jayanti; markets slump for second day

The Bombay Stock Exchange BSE and National Stock Exchange NSE will remain closed on March 31 on account of Shri Mahavir JayantiAs per reports trading across segments including equities equity derivatives securities lending and borrowing SLBs currency derivatives and interest rate derivatives will remain suspended for the day on both exchangesHowever the commodity derivatives segment will be closed during the morning session and will resume trading in the evening session Regular trading on both exchanges will recommence on April 1Meanwhile Indian benchmark indices extended their losses for a second straight session on March 30 with the Nifty 50 slipping below the 22350 mark amid broadbased selling The decline was led by banking stocks after the Reserve Bank of India tightened limits on banksrsquo dollar positionsAt close the Sensex dropped 163567 points or 222 per cent to settle at 7194755 while the Nifty fell 48820 points or 214 per cent to end at 2233140 The Nifty 50 has now declined over 11 per cent in March marking its steepest monthly fall since March 2020According to the reports broader markets also came under pressure with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices declining around 26 per cent eachAmong Nifty stocks major losers included Bajaj Finance Axis Bank Bajaj Finserv State Bank of India and InterGlobe Aviation On the other hand Hindalco Industries Coal India ONGC and Power Grid Corporation of India were among the gainersAll sectoral indices ended in the red with auto FMCG consumer durables capital goods telecom realty and both private and PSU banking stocks falling between 2 per cent and 4 per centRupee breaches 95USD level before settling at 9470 against US dollarThe rupee breached the 95perUS dollar mark during intraday trade on Monday before recovering to settle at 9470 up 15 paise amid heightened volatility triggered by escalating tensions in West Asia PTI reportedForex traders said the USDINR pair witnessed sharp fluctuations swinging 165 paise during the session as the Iran conflict entered its 31st day keeping energy markets on edge and fuelling riskoff sentimentAccording to PTI at the interbank foreign exchange market the rupee opened stronger at 9362 and rose further to 9357 against the US dollar gaining 128 paise from its previous close The initial surge followed the Reserve Bank of Indiarsquos move to cap banksrsquo Net Open Position NOPINR at USD 100 million with compliance mandated by April 10However the currency failed to hold gains and fell sharply to a record intraday low of 9522 against the greenback It later recovered some ground to close at 9470 compared to Fridayrsquos historic closing low of 9485 when it had plunged 89 paiseMarket participants attributed the rupeersquos weakness to global factors particularly fading hopes of deescalation between the US and Iran which heightened risk aversion and boosted demand for safehaven assets like the US dollarForex experts noted that a firm dollar index hovering above the 100 mark and rising crude oil prices continue to exert pressure on the rupee Brent crude surged to USD 11497 per barrel amid fears of supply disruptions due to geopolitical tensions the news agency reportedMeanwhile the dollar index was trading marginally lower at 10030 On the domestic front equity markets remained under pressure with the Sensex falling 163567 points to 7194755 and the Nifty declining 48820 points to 2233140Foreign institutional investors FIIs were net sellers offloading equities worth Rs 1116306 crore during the session according to exchange dataWith inputs from Agencies