India, March 2 -- Dalal Street in Mumbai was engulfed in panic on Monday as India's benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty 50 cratered at the opening bell, with investors unwilling to take fresh bets amid acute uncertainty stemming from the Iran war.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 3.38%, or 2,743 points, to open at 78,543 points, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 cracked 519 points, or 2.06%, to 24,659. By mid-morning, both indices had clawed back some losses but remained firmly in negative territory.

"The uncertainty related to the (Iran) war will loom large over the market in the near-term," V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd., told Hindustan Times over email. "The major risk from the market ...