Investor jitters over mounting West Asia conflicts fueled a brutal sell-off in Indian stocks on Thursday, with BSE Sensex cratering 1.08% or 829.29 points to close at 76,034.42. Nifty 50 mirrored the pain, down 0.95% or 227.70 points at 23,639.15, amid choppy oil markets.
The day saw wild gyrations. Sensex hit a low of 75,871.18 after shedding 1.3% or 992.53 points early on, and Nifty fell to 23,556.30, off 1.25% or 298.15 points. Recovery efforts lifted Sensex to 76,681.71 intraday high, recouping about 600 points.
Secondary markets weakened too: Nifty Midcap 100 -0.37%, Smallcap 100 -0.67%. Auto sector was hammered hardest at -3.19%, with FMCG (-1.77%), Realty (-1.63%), Nifty Bank (-1.14%), and IT (-0.24%) also in retreat. Oil & Gas shone as the lone bright sector.
Nifty laggards featured Mahindra & Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Bajaj Finance, TVS Motor Company, Larsen & Toubro, and UltraTech Cement. Gainers like Coal India, NTPC, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, Jio Finance, Adani Enterprises, and Jio Financial Services provided counterbalance.
The carnage erased nearly 2 lakh crore rupees from BSE-listed firms’ market cap, now at 440 lakh crore versus 442 lakh crore prior. As the fourth consecutive down day unfolds against a backdrop of regional strife, markets signal deep caution, with oil dynamics poised to dictate near-term trajectories.