Indian stock markets saw a sharp decline on Thursday, driven by concerns over new SEBI regulations on F&O and rising geopolitical tensions.

The Nifty 50 index dropped 1.33%, or 344 points, opening at 25,452.85. Similarly, the BSE Sensex experienced a steep fall, losing 1,264.20 points, or 1.50%, to start the day at 83,002.09.

Market experts pointed to global factors as key drivers of the downturn. The Fed’s recent rate cut, rising geopolitical tensions, and foreign investors shifting funds to other markets like China have contributed to the selling pressure in Indian markets.

“China eating EMs lunch, Japan heaving a sigh of relief, US realising things were not bad at all to justify the Fed’s 50 basis points rate cut in September and India trying to figure out how the regulators moves to tighten derivatives market speculation will impact the market momentum, all with Israel Iran raising the geopolitical heat on the global risk markets” said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert.

“India is seeing strong FII net outflows and needs to do more on the policy front to make expensive markets attractive to global capital flows. RBI MPC meets next week, but is expected to stay conservative. At best we can expect a policy stance change to a more dovish outlook. Things not rosy for Indian markets, but the primary market frenzy continues unabated. Caution amid volatility,” he added.

In the broader market, the Nifty Next 50 saw the steepest fall, declining by 1.27% at the time of reporting. The Indian stock market’s volatility index also rose by over 9%.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto led the decline with a drop of over 2%, followed by Nifty FMCG and Nifty Realty, both of which fell more than 1.5%. The only sector to show gains was Nifty Metal, which rose by 0.43%.

Other Asian markets were mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s market rising over 2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by more than 4%. U.S. markets remained relatively steady on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing with minor gains.

(ANI)