Indian equity markets witnessed a brutal selloff on March 23, 2026, with the BSE Sensex crashing 1,837 points to close at 72,404 and the Nifty 50 plunging 335 points or 1.5% to settle at 22,481.65, just above the psychologically critical 22,500 mark. The session turned into a sea of red as bears dominated trading from mid-morning onwards.
The Nifty 50 opened at 22,824.35 and briefly touched an intraday high of 22,851.70 before succumbing to relentless selling pressure. The index hit a session low of 22,471.25 before closing at 22,481.65, representing a 632.85-point drop from the previous close of 23,114.50. The broader market mirrored the benchmark indices, with most sectors ending deep in negative territory.
| Index | Close | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 22,481.65 | -632.85 | -2.74% |
| BSE Sensex | 72,404 | -1,837 | -2.48% |
Pharma stocks emerged as the sole bright spot in an otherwise dismal session. Cipla advanced to ₹1,264.00 from ₹1,250.00, while Sun Pharma climbed to ₹1,781.30 from ₹1,755.10. Wipro edged higher to ₹192.30 from ₹191.19, and Nestlé India held steady at ₹1,204.00. However, these isolated gains were vastly outweighed by losses across banking, IT, metals, and auto sectors as investors rushed to book profits after recent rallies.
GIFT NIFTY tracked the domestic market carnage throughout the session, closing at 22,514, down 346 points or 1.51% from the previous close of 22,860. The SGX derivative contract opened at 22,750 and touched a high of 22,845.50 in early trade before sentiment deteriorated sharply.
| GIFT NIFTY | Level |
|---|---|
| Open | 22,750.0 |
| High | 22,845.5 |
| Low | 22,453.0 |
| LTP | 22,514.0 |
| Change | -346.0 (-1.51%) |
The offshore index plunged to an intraday low of 22,453 during the mid-day selloff that coincided with accelerated domestic selling. The session saw two distinct phases of weakness — a sharp drop between 11:45 and 13:00 that took GIFT NIFTY from 22,775 to 22,540, and a late-afternoon slide from 17:30 onwards that pulled the contract below 22,500 before a marginal recovery into the close.
GIFT NIFTY heads into Session II at 22,514, sitting 392.5 points below Friday's Nifty 50 cash close of 22,481.65, suggesting further weakness or consolidation may be in store when the Indian market reopens on March 24.