Multiple blue-chip stocks slide to 52-week lows as Indian market dips

The BSE 500 index fell 0.65% while the Sensex dropped to an intra-day low of 74,583 after a more than 1% decline from its peak, sending a range of large-cap stocks to 52-week lows. Companies such as Reliance Industries, SBI Life Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Havells India, Indian Energy Exchange and Bikaji Foods International were among the 16 stocks on the BSE 500 that slipped. Kotak Institutional Equities cited rising oil prices driven by the West Asia war and higher bond yields as the main headwinds, even though India’s overall macro fundamentals remain solid.

Enrich Money’s Ponmudi R highlighted the risk of further oil-price volatility from renewed US-Iran tensions and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. CareEdge Ratings’ Rajani Sinha added that below-normal rainfall could affect agricultural output, while cement makers ACC, Ambuja Cements, India Cements and Shree Cement also reached 52-week lows amid monsoon-related demand challenges.