Indian equity markets came under sharp selling pressure on Friday as rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan weighed heavily on investor sentiment. The decline followed the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and reports of ceasefire violations at the border.
The Sensex opened on a positive note, touching an early high of 80,131. However, it soon reversed course, plunging to a low of 78,606 — a drop of 1,525 points — before recovering partially to close at 79,213, down 589 points or 0.7 per cent.
The Nifty followed a similar trajectory. It rose to an early high of 24,365 but fell sharply to an intra-day low of 23,848. The index ended the session at 24,039, registering a loss of 207 points or 0.9 per cent.
“Rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan continued to weigh heavily on investor sentiment, prompting a cautious start for Indian equities,” said Sundar Kewat of Ashika Institutional Equity.
Despite the day’s losses, both indices ended the week in the green. The Sensex posted a weekly gain of 660 points, while the Nifty added 187 points.
Among Sensex constituents, Axis Bank was the worst performer following the release of its Q4 results. Other notable laggards included Zomato, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corporation, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Tata Motors, and SBI, all of which declined between 2–3 per cent.
On the other hand, stocks such as TCS, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, and Infosys managed to close with gains.
The broader market also witnessed pressure, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices falling more than 2 per cent each.
Sectorally, BSE Realty, Healthcare, and Power indices led the decline, dropping up to 3 per cent. The Auto, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, and Metal indices also slipped by around 2 per cent each. The Bankex and FMCG indices closed lower by about 1 per cent.
Rupak De of LKP Securities said the Nifty has broken down after a phase of consolidation on the daily chart, suggesting rising bearish sentiment.
“In the short term, market sentiment is likely to dictate the trend, with the index potentially heading lower. Support is placed at 23,800 and 23,515,” he added.
-IANS
