Stock markets fall for second day amid rising oil prices, West Asia crisis; Sensex tanks 555 points

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Tuesday (September 8, 2026), extending losses for the second straight day, as rising crude oil prices and the U.S.-Iran hostilities kept risk appetite subdued.

Selling in blue-chip stocks ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries also dragged the markets lower.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 555.23 points, or 0.73%, to settle at 75,577.58. During the day, it tanked 579.46 points, or 0.76%, to 75,553.35.

The 50-share NSE Nifty ended 144.05 points, or 0.61%, lower at 23,635.10.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

Bharat Electronics, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever and InterGlobe Aviation were the gainers.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.45% to $98.36 per barrel.

"Indian equity markets ended lower on a weak note, extending their slide to a seven-week low and maintaining the prevailing bearish trend as elevated crude oil prices and persistent geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Selling pressure remained visible through the session," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said. The BSE MidCap Select index climbed 0.79%, while the SmallCap Select index ended flat, down 0.06%.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Insurance declined 1.05%, Top 10 Banks 0.97%, Private Banks index 0.88%, Financial Services 0.80%, Oil & Gas 0.64%, Bankex 0.63% and Energy 0.48%.

Commodities, Consumer Discretionary, FMCG, Healthcare, Industrials, Telecommunication, Capital Goods, Power, Services and MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt were the winners.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended lower, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index settled higher.

Markets in Europe were trading lower. U.S. markets were closed on Monday (September 7, 2026) for the Labour Day holiday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹280.13 crore on Monday (September 7, 2026), according to exchange data.

On Monday (September 7, 2026), the Sensex dropped 382.62 points, or 0.50%, to settle at 76,132.81. The Nifty declined 118.55 points, or 0.50%, to end at 23,779.15.