Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, tanked in trade on Monday driven by global cues. This crash was influenced by mixed signals from regional markets and driven by losses in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries,

After opening on a weak note, the selloff intensified in the last hour of trade, with the Sensex plunging over 1,200 points and the Nifty slipping below the critical 26,000 mark, reflecting growing caution among investors.

Equity benchmark indices tumbled nearly 1.5% on Monday due to heavy selling in frontline stocks Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank amid rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East and weakness in Japanese markets.

The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a negative start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 26,305 level, a discount of nearly 40 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

The retreat comes on the back of consecutive fresh highs breached by the benchmarks Sensex and Nifty in the last couple of weeks

Sensex fell 700.29 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 84,871.56, with the BSE market capitalisation m-cap falling 3.15 lakh crore to Rs 474.77 lakh crore. A total of 2,101 listed stocks on BSE fell, while only 1,