India’s BSE Sensex fell around 0.2% to below 73,167 in early trade on Monday, reversing gains from the previous two sessions, as sentiment turned cautious amid escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly renewed threats from US President Trump toward Iran. Trump warned of severe consequences if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened. On the upside, major banks such as HDFC, Kotak Mahindra, and Axis reported strong loan growth and deposits, which could help limit losses and support market stability.
The Reserve Bank of India has also recently moved to curb currency volatility and ease liquidity stress by limiting speculative forex trades, managing liquidity, and signaling policy stability to boost investor confidence. On the macro front, HSBC Composite and Services PMI final data for March are due later in the day, with expectations of 56.5 and 57.4, respectively. Notable laggards were Latent View (-3.7%), Reliance Industries (-1.7%), Dixon Tech (-1.1%), and Bharti Airtel (-0.4%).
