Mumbai’s stock market took a severe hit on Friday as escalating conflicts in the Middle East triggered widespread selling. The Sensex plummeted 1,097 points, or 1.37%, to close at 78,918.90, while the Nifty shed 315.45 points, or 1.27%, ending at 24,450.45. This sharp decline marked one of the day’s most dramatic sessions, driven primarily by fears over global energy supplies.
Banking stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off, with the Nifty Bank index diving 2.15% to 57,783.25. Real estate followed closely, dropping 2.09%, alongside PSU banks down 2.01%, services 1.81%, auto 1.06%, consumption 1.02%, infra 0.89%, and media 0.58%. Investors fled these sectors amid rising geopolitical risks.
Not all segments faltered. Defense stocks surged 2.77% on the Nifty India Defence index, with energy up 0.13%, PSE 0.12%, and IT gaining a modest 0.04%. Midcaps and smallcaps showed relative resilience, with Nifty Midcap 100 falling 0.69% to 57,393.35 and Nifty Smallcap 100 down just 0.24% at 16,498.90.
Among Sensex constituents, BEL, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Infosys, and HCL Tech emerged as top gainers, providing some counterbalance. However, heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Eternal, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Indigo, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Trent, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, and HUL dragged the index lower.
The turmoil stems from prolonged hostilities involving the US, Israel, and Iran, raising alarms over potential disruptions to oil supplies. Crude prices have spiked, with WTI crude nearing $80 per barrel and Brent surpassing $84. Compounding this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree, offloading equity worth Rs 3,752.52 crore on Thursday alone.
Market participants now eye the weekend for any de-escalation signals. Persistent tensions could prolong the bearish sentiment, testing investor resolve in the weeks ahead. Domestic fundamentals remain solid, but global headwinds dominate the narrative.