Equity benchmarks Sensex on Friday slumped over 900 points to crash below the 76,000 level due to an across-the-board sell-off, tracking weak global markets amid growing global trade war fears.
Besides, heavy selling in market heavyweights Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys and a sharp correction in global crude prices, indicating recessionary fears, added to the gloom, analysts said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 930.67 points or 1.22 per cent to settle at 75,364.69. During the day, it plummeted 1,054.81 points or 1.38 per cent to hit an intraday low of 75,240.55.
The broader NSE Nifty declined 345.65 points or 1.49 per cent to close at 22,904.45. In the session, the 50-share benchmark gauge 382.2 points or 1.64 per cent to 22,867.90.
“The recent implementation of higher-than-anticipated US tariffs has had a significant impact on global markets, triggering a bearish trend as investors assess the broader implications.
“The likelihood of retaliatory measures against the US has further heightened uncertainty. US bond yields and oil prices are trending downward, reflecting concerns over potential economic slowdown and increased recessionary risks,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said.
As much as 2,820 stocks declined, 1,126 advanced and 130 remained unchanged on the BSE.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slumped by `9,98,379.46 crore to `4,03,34,886.46 crore ($4.73 trillion).
During the week, the BSE Sensex tanked 2,050.23 points or 2.64 per cent, while the NSE Nifty declined 614.8 points or 2.61 per cent.
Tata Steel was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, sliding 8.59 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharmaceutical, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and NTPC, were the major laggards.
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, ITC, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
“The sharp fall in global markets — particularly in the US — and fresh concerns over potential tariffs on pharma impacted sentiment negatively. However, sustained strength in banking and financial stocks helped limit the overall downside to some extent. Looking ahead, we anticipate a time-wise correction in the Nifty index,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said. In broader markets, the BSE midcap gauge plunged 3.08 per cent, while smallcap index declined 3.43 per cent.
All the sectoral indices ended in negative territory. Metal plunged declined 6.34 per cent, followed by capital goods (3.99 per cent), Oil and Gas, Commodities, and Industrials (3.89 per cent each), Energy (3.65 per cent), realty (3.61 per cent), and IT (3.55 per cent).
“Markets slumped in sync with the crash in global equities with sectors crashing over 2-6 per cent on broad-based selling,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
Investors fear Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy will fuel recession, drive inflation in the US going ahead and engulf other key economies. A sharp fall in metal and oil stocks is indicating that demand could be hit amid slowdown fears, Tapse added.
In Asian markets, Tokyo and Seoul ended lower. Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets remained closed for the holidays.
European markets were trading lower in the mid-session deals. US markets closed lower in overnight deals on Thursday, witnessing their biggest drop since 2020.
Global oil benchmark Brent Crude slipped 3.26 per cent to $67.85 a barrel.
“Crude oil prices plunged after the US President announced heavy reciprocal trade tariffs, triggering fears of slower global demand. A sharp tariff hike on China spooked energy markets, leading to crude oil’s biggest single-day fall in three years,” Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,806 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 221.47 crore on a net basis.
On Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 322.08 points to close at 76,295.36, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 82.25 points to settle at 23,250.10.
As Q4 approaches, a sequential improvement in corporate performance is anticipated.
However, prevailing weak market sentiment suggests that the phase of consolidation may persist in the near term, Nair said.
