New Delhi, March 4 -- The Indian stock market came under intense selling pressure on Wednesday as the escalating conflict in the Middle East unsettled investors, triggering sharp volatility across global asset classes. The US-Israel-Iran war pushed crude oil prices higher on supply disruption concerns, while boosting safe-haven demand for gold and silver.

Domestic benchmark indices extended losses and slipped below key technical levels. The BSE Sensex declined 1,456.79 points, or 1.82%, to 78,782.06, while the Nifty 50 fell 484.85 points, or 1.95%, to 24,380.85. The Bank Nifty dropped 2.25% to 58,491.20.

Broader markets mirrored the weakness. The Nifty Smallcap 100 and the Nifty Midcap 100 indices declined more than 2.7% each, while the...