New Delhi, 04 March (H.S.):

Indian stock benchmarks tumbled sharply in early trading Wednesday, extending a brutal sell-off fueled by West Asia tensions as buyers and sellers clashed fiercely from the opening bell.The BSE Sensex opened down 1,710.03 points at 78,528.82, swung wildly between 78,443.20 and 78,928.92, and traded 1,431.36 points lower at 78,807.49 by 10:15 AM—a 1.78% drop.

The NSE Nifty mirrored the chaos, debuting 476.90 points off at 24,388.80, fluctuating from 24,305.40 to 24,476.95, and stood 456.25 points down at 24,409.45, off 1.83%.Blue-Chips Split Amid CarnageCoal India, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Bharat Electronics bucked the trend, gaining 0.45–2.48%. Heavyweights Larsen & Toubro, Shriram Finance, Tata Steel, InterGlobe Aviation, and UltraTech Cement plunged 4.33–7.20%.

Out of 2,786 active BSE stocks, just 365 traded green while 2,421 bled red; Sensex's 30 shares saw only 3 gainers against 27 losers, Nifty's 50 had 4 up and 46 down.

Monday's close offered no reprieve: Sensex fell 1,048.34 points (1.29%) to 80,238.85; Nifty shed 312.95 points (1.24%) to 24,865.70. Volatility reigns as global fears dominate Holi trading.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar