Mumbai, March 30 -- Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended the last trading session of the 2025-26 fiscal year sharply lower on Monday as the ongoing war in West Asia and surging crude oil prices kept investors' sentiment fragile.

Weak trends in Asian markets and unabated foreign fund outflows also added to the bearish trend in domestic equities.

Declining for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,635.67 points or 2.22 per cent to settle at 71,947.55. During the day, it plunged 1,809.09 points or 2.45 per cent to 71,774.13.

A total of 3,563 stocks declined, while 876 advanced and 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty slumped 488.20 points or 2.14 per cent to end at 22,331.40.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed companies tumbled Rs 18,60,662.29 crore to Rs 4,12,41,172.45 crore ($4.36 trillion) in two days of sharp decline.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, InterGlobe Aviation, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the biggest laggards.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra and Power Grid were the gainers.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 2.18 per cent to $115.1 per barrel.

In the last two trading sessions, the BSE benchmark Sensex has lost 3,325.9 points, or 4.41 per cent, and the Nifty dived 975.05 points, or 4.18 per cent.

In the 2025-26 financial year, the BSE benchmark plunged 5,467.37 points, or 7 per cent, and the Nifty dropped 1,187.95 points, or 5 per cent.

The BSE MidCap Select index lost 3.13 per cent, and the SmallCap Select index declined 2.14 per cent.

Sectorally, all indices ended in the red, with auto, FMCG, consumer durables, capital goods, realty, private banks, and PSU banks falling in the range of 2-4 per cent.

The BSE PSU Bank tanked 4.60 per cent, MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt (3.96 per cent), Bankex (3.80 per cent), Financial Services (3.46 per cent), Private Banks (3.43 per cent), BSE Top 10 Banks (3.40 per cent), Telecom (3.09 per cent) & Realty (3.03 per cent).

FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 4,367.30 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors, however, bought stocks worth Rs 3,566.15 crore.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.