New Delhi, 02 March (H.S.): India's stock markets plunged in early trade amid surging geopolitical tensions, erasing ₹7.80 lakh crore from BSE-listed firms' market cap within the first five seconds of opening.Geopolitical fears triggered the rout, but bargain hunting sparked a partial rebound. After one hour at 10:15 AM, Sensex was down 1.28% and Nifty 1.25%, after wild swings.

BSE Sensex cratered 2,743.46 points (3.37%) to open at 78,543.73, rebounding over 2,000 points to 80,632.55 in 20 minutes before sellers regained control—settling at 80,249.64, off 1,037.55 points.NSE Nifty mirrored the chaos, opening 519.40 points lower at 24,659.25, surging 330.10 points to 24,989.35 before dipping to 24,863.55—a 315.10-point (1.25%) loss.

Friday's close saw Sensex fall 1.17% to 81,287.19 and Nifty 1.25% to 25,178.65.Gainers and LosersBlue-chips showed divergence: Bharat Electronics, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel gained 0.08–2.24%. L&T, IndiGo, Asian Paints, Adani Enterprises, and Adani Ports tumbled 2.37–4.74%.Of 2,799 active stocks, 470 advanced versus 2,329 decliners. Sensex's 30 stocks: 4 up, 26 down; Nifty 50: 7 up, 43 down.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar