Mumbai’s stock market closed in deep red on Thursday, marking a sharp end to the recent rally. The BSE Sensex plummeted 1,236.11 points, or 1.48%, to settle at 82,498.14. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty shed 365 points, down 1.41%, ending at 25,454.35. Every single Nifty index flashed red by the close, signaling widespread pessimism.
The session started on a positive note with modest gains from the previous close. However, heavy selling in banking, metals, auto, and FMCG sectors erased the early optimism. The three-day winning streak snapped as both benchmarks surrendered their opening advances and dove into negative territory.
At its lowest, the 30-share Sensex touched 82,264.20 after a drop of over 1,400 points. The Nifty breached 25,400, falling more than 400 points or 1%. This brutal sell-off was triggered by surging crude oil prices, escalating US-Iran tensions, and profit booking in major banking and FMCG stocks.
All 30 Sensex constituents ended lower, with IndiGo, M&M, UltraTech Cement, Trent, BEL, Kotak Bank, Reliance, Tech Mahindra, and ITC logging the steepest losses of up to 3.2%. Broader markets fared no better: Nifty Midcap 100 declined 1.59%, while Smallcap 100 fell 1.27%.
Sector-wise, Nifty Realty, Media, and Auto bore the brunt with 2% drops each. Nifty FMCG, Private Banks, and PSU Banks followed with over 1% losses. The carnage wiped out a staggering 53 lakh crore rupees from investor wealth, shrinking BSE’s total market capitalization to around 466 lakh crore.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded IT shares worth 10,956 crore in the first half of February. Overall, the market saw net inflows of 29,709 crore, but IT stocks took the hardest hit amid the volatility.