Sensex Declines Sharply, Erasing ₹8 Lakh Crore in Market Value — Here’s What’s Driving the Fall
On Friday, Indian equity benchmarks lost their early gains and plunged for the second straight session.
Sensex Declines Sharply, Erasing ₹8 Lakh Crore in Market Value — Here’s What’s Driving the Fall
Sensex Today Live: Investor sentiment soured after the terrorist attack in Kashmir on tourists, raising fears over the escalating tensions in geopolitics.
By 10:33 am, the BSE Sensex today was down 981 points or 1.23% to 78 819. The NSE Nifty50 fell 301 points or 1.24% to 23,948.
The decline was a result of a strong session start, which saw the Sensex briefly touch 80,130, and the Nifty briefly cross the 24,350 mark before the selling pressure increased.
The total stock market today capitalisation on BSE has decreased by Rs 8,5 lakh crores to Rs 421,13 lakh crores.
Why Is Market Down Today?
A recent terrorist attack that claimed the lives of several tourists in Kashmir has prompted a market bearish turn.
Markets have experienced a remarkable rise, from 22,000 to over 24,400 in the Nifty. Kranthi bathini, Director of Equity Strategy, WealthMills Securities Pvt. Ltd., said that after such a strong rise, it was only natural to expect a period of profit taking.
TCS was the biggest gainer on the benchmark indexes with a rise of 0.70%, followed by Infosys which rose 0.67%. IndusInd Bank was also higher with a 0.31% increase, while HDFC Bank had a slight uptick of 0.08 %. ICICI Bank remained unchanged. Axis Bank, on the other hand saw the biggest fall of 4.28%. Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid were also major losers.
The broad markets were the hardest hit by the selling. The Nifty Smallcap 100 Index experienced a decline of 3.30% and the Nifty Midcap 100 Index decreased by 2.85%. A sizable surge of investor anxiety prompted the India VIX to increase by 6.46%.
All major sectoral indices closed in the red. Nifty Media was the worst hit with a decline of 3.54%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank which dropped 2.87%. Nifty Realty fell by 2.69% while Healthcare and Pharma were both down over 2.4%. Private Bank, Auto (-1,88%), Consumer Durables (2,08%), Oil & Gas (1,97%), FMCG, Nifty Metal (-2,42%), Financial Services, and FMCG indices all fell between 1.5 and 1.6%.
