Stock Market, June 8, 2026: Sensex Slides 740 pts Under Iran War Shadow; RBI Moves, 7.7% GDP Growth Offer Some Comfort

Mumbai, June 8: Domestic equity benchmarks opened the week on a deeply cautious note Monday, dragged down by the reignition of Middle East hostilities as fresh Israeli strikes on Beirut and retaliatory Iranian missile fire rattled global risk appetite overnight.  

Sensex & Nifty 

The BSE Sensex plunged 737.25 points, or 0.99%, to trade at 73,506.09, while the NSE Nifty 50 shed 231.65 points, or 0.99%, to quote at 23,135.05 around 9:24 am.  

Selling pressure was broad-based across sectors, with IT, metals, realty and auto bearing the brunt, even as pharma and PSU banks managed to hold their ground. The volatility gauge India VIX spiked sharply by 8.07% to 17.06, reflecting the surge in investor anxiety. The selloff mirrors the carnage in Asian and US markets, where indices tumbled on fears that a full-blown US-Iran conflict could disrupt global oil flows and supply chains. Domestic positives — the RBI’s foreign-capital-friendly measures and India’s robust 7.7% GDP growth in FY26 — offered only a modest cushion against the overwhelming global headwinds. 

Gainers & Losers 

On the gainers’ side, Sun Pharma led the pack with its LTP at ₹1,795 against a previous close of ₹1,782.20, rising 0.72%, followed by Dr. Reddy‘s, which climbed 0.48% to an LTP of ₹1,284.30 from its prior close of ₹1,278.20, while Apollo Hospitals edged up 0.25% with its LTP at ₹8,325 compared to the previous close of ₹8,304.50, and Axis Bank gained a modest 0.13%, moving to ₹1,274 from its previous close of ₹1,272.30.  

On the losing side, Wipro bore the sharpest pain, tumbling 4.62% to an LTP of ₹189.20 from its previous close of ₹198.37, while Tata Steel dropped 2.26% to ₹202.10 from ₹206.77, Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2.12% to ₹2,975.90 from ₹3,040.50, Hindalco slid 2.11% to ₹1,069.50 from ₹1,092.60, and IndiGo declined 1.95% to ₹4,394 from its previous close of ₹4,481.30. 

Broad Markets & Sectoral Indices 

In the broader markets, all indices were trading in the red, with the Nifty 500 down 0.93% at 22,255.75, the Nifty Midcap 100 off 0.85% at 60,239.90, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 lower by 0.65% at 17,993.10. On the sectoral front, gainers were a rare sight, with Nifty Pharma advancing 0.51% to 24,371.95, Nifty Healthcare Index adding 0.39% to 15,469.75, and Nifty PSU Bank barely holding positive, up 0.05% at 8,262.85. Among the sectoral losers, Nifty IT led the selloff, falling 1.80% to 28,488.90, weighed down by a sharp correction in tech stocks globally, while Nifty Realty was the second-worst performer, down 1.89% to 754.35, and Nifty Metal slid 1.58% to 13,013.10 as commodity fears mounted amid geopolitical uncertainty. 

Middle East Conflict 

Israel launched fresh strikes on the Beirut area on Sunday — the first since a US-announced truce plan for Lebanon last week — prompting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to retaliate with a missile salvo targeting Ramat David air base near Nazareth, pushing global markets into a sharp risk-off mode. US President Donald Trump insisted the attacks would not derail his administration’s ongoing peace talks with Tehran, stating bluntly that “I call the shots — he doesn’t call the shots,” in a pointed reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benchmark Brent crude futures surged past $95 a barrel in early Monday trading, reversing most of Friday’s peace-optimism-driven losses and adding a fresh layer of inflation anxiety for import-dependent economies like India. 

RBI Policy and India’s GDP Growth 

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, in its Friday decision, unanimously held the repo rate steady at 5.25% and retained its neutral stance, even as it announced a package of measures designed to support the rupee and attract foreign capital inflows into India’s debt and equity markets. The policy backdrop was reinforced by strong macroeconomic data released on Friday, showing India’s GDP growth accelerated to 7.7% in FY2025-26, up from 7.1% in the previous fiscal year — making India once again the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The RBI, however, raised its inflation forecast and flagged risks to growth from global uncertainty, including the potential fallout from the Middle East conflict on crude oil prices and imported inflation. Despite the geopolitical headwinds, the combination of a proactive central bank and resilient growth numbers is expected to keep India’s long-term structural story intact for foreign investors. 

Asian and US Markets 

Across Asia on Monday morning, markets tumbled sharply, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 leading the carnage with a loss of 4.08% to 63,869.50, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.57% to 24,570.61 and Indonesia’s JSX Composite cratered 4.20% to 5,594.77.  

On Wall Street, Friday’s session ended on a bruising note, with the Nasdaq Composite plunging 4.18% to 25,709.43 and the S&P 500 falling 2.64% to 7,383.74, as fears around the Iran-Israel escalation and its implications for global growth sent tech and energy stocks reeling. 

Oil Prices 

Global crude prices surged more than $2 a barrel in early Monday trading after Israel’s renewed strikes on Lebanon reignited fears of a prolonged Middle East conflict, with Brent crude futures rising 2.5% to $95.42 and US WTI crude climbing 2.32% to $92.64. The rally erased most of Friday’s losses, which had come on the back of mounting hopes of a US-Iran de-escalation deal, and analysts warned that any further exchange of fire risks sending prices well above $100 a barrel. For India, which imports approximately 85% of its crude requirements, a sustained oil price surge above $95 poses a meaningful threat to the current account deficit, fiscal calculations and retail inflation. 

Indian Markets Closing Note (Friday) 

Indian benchmark indices had ended Friday’s session marginally lower in a volatile day of trade, with the BSE Sensex closing down 116.67 points, or 0.16%, at 74,243.34, and the NSE Nifty 50 settling 49.85 points, or 0.21%, lower at 23,366.70. Market breadth was broadly balanced, with 1,966 stocks advancing against 2,049 declining shares, suggesting the selling was not yet panic-driven at the index level. Banking stocks provided a cushion, limiting steeper losses even as IT and metal counters weighed on sentiment heading into a weekend that, as it turned out, would bring fresh geopolitical turbulence from the Middle East. 

Source: nseindia.com, bseindia.com
https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/live-market-indices 

https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/top-gainers-losers