The Sensex fell more than 1,500 points to go below 57,000, while the NSE Nifty fell below 17,000 in the morning session on Monday, amid rising tensions over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In early trade, the 30-share Sensex fell 1,540.85 points to 56,612.07, while the wider Nifty fell 458.20 points to 16,916.55.

On the Sensex, all 30 stocks were trading with sharp to moderate losses, with SBI, Tata Steel, and IndusInd Bank falling more than 4%.

The broader indices were trading in red with the BSE Midcap index falling 2.39%, while the Small cap index was down by 2.84%. The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 3.65%, Telecom down by 3.47%, Capital Goods down by 3.20%, Industrials down by 3.18%, Bankex down by 3.13%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses were trading in the negative, as investors feared that Russia will invade Ukraine shortly, sending oil prices skyrocketing. According to analysts, domestic markets began considerably down in line with gloomy Asian markets, as did US stocks.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, “US stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as heightened concern that Russia may soon invade Ukraine sent oil prices spiking and investors to dump risky assets like equities.” Investors also weighed a sharp drop in consumer sentiment and a pickup in near-term inflation expectations, he added.

According to stock exchange statistics, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net purchasers in the capital market on Friday, purchasing shares worth Rs 108.53 crore.

On Monday, the global crude oil benchmark Brent Futures rose more than 1% to USD 95.44 a barrel. Rupee slumps 20 paise to 75.56 against the US dollar in early trade.