Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp decline on Friday as rising tensions between India and Pakistan spooked investors.
At the closing bell, the Sensex dropped 880.34 points, or 1.10 per cent, to close at 79,454.47, while the Nifty fell 265.80 points, or 1.10 per cent, to settle at 24,008.
“Nifty traders appeared to embrace risk-off trades amid India-Pakistan tensions, as the index fell from its recent consolidation zone,” said Rupak De of LKP Securities.
He added that the Nifty managed to stay above the 24,000 mark as it found support around the 21-day exponential moving average (EMA).
Among the Sensex’s 30 stocks, ICICI Bank led the losses, falling 3.09 per cent during the intra-day session, followed by PowerGrid (down 2.61 per cent), Bajaj Finance (down 1.84 per cent), and Reliance Industries (down 1.84 per cent).
However, some stocks managed to post gains. Titan led the pack with a 4.25 per cent rise, followed by Larsen & Toubro at 4.02 per cent, Tata Motors with 3.86 per cent, State Bank of India at 1.39 per cent, and Asian Paints, which edged up 0.2 per cent.
Investor sentiment weakened across the board. The Nifty Bank, financial services, and realty indices each dropped more than 1 per cent, with the realty sector emerging as the worst performer, plunging nearly 2 per cent.
Other key sectors—auto, IT, energy, pharma, FMCG, healthcare, and oil & gas—also ended the day in the red.
Despite the overall weakness, a few sectors bucked the trend. Nifty PSU Bank, consumer durables, media, and metal stocks managed to close with gains, providing some support to the market.
In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 index ended flat, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.61 per cent.
Additionally, the rupee traded in a volatile range of 85.90 to 85.35 amid the ongoing border tensions, with signs of escalation keeping market participants cautious.
“Any fresh developments on the geopolitical front are likely to have a significant impact on the rupee’s direction,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.
–IANS
