The Indian market closed sharply lower on Thursday as investors reacted to a cocktail of global uncertainties, including escalating tensions in the Middle East and a cautious tone ahead of the weekly F&O expiry. The sell-off was led by IT stocks, with benchmark indices slipping over 1%.
The BSE Sensex dropped 823.16 points, or 1.00%, to close at 81,691.98, while the NSE Nifty fell 253.20 points, or 1.01%, to close at 24,888.20. The market capitalisation of all listed companies on the BSE shrank by Rs 7.11 lakh crore to Rs 449.42 lakh crore, reflecting broad-based selling across sectors.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Consolidation in domestic markets is evolving into a broad-based trend, now extending to large-cap stocks, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, adding that “valuation concerns and rising oil prices—driven by Middle East tensions—are fuelling risk aversion among investors. IT, metals, and auto sectors have mostly underperformed.”
“Adding to the uncertainty, the U.S. is considering unilateral tariff hikes on several key trading partners, with a decision expected within the next one to two weeks, ahead of an early July deadline. Meanwhile, gold is witnessing a fresh leg of safe-haven buying, amid escalating geopolitical and economic risks,” said Nair.
US markets
Wall Street’s main indexes slipped on Thursday as signs of rising tensions in the Middle East hurt risk sentiment and investors sought more clarity on Washington’s recent trade deals with China.
Boeing declined 4.7% after an Air India 787-8 Dreamliner jet crashed minutes after taking off in India’s western city of Ahmedabad, killing more than 200 people.
Underscoring increased volatility in the Middle East, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday U.S. personnel were being moved out of the region as it could be a “dangerous place” and the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
European Stocks
In Europe, the STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, led mostly by airlines, given brewing tensions in the Middle East. European shares dropped on Thursday, in their fourth straight session of declines, as recent trade optimism stemming from potential deals with the U.S. faded, and mounting geopolitical tensions led to the markets being more cautious.
Tech View
The Nifty slipped sharply following a consolidation breakdown on the daily chart, indicating bearish pressure around the recent market top near 25,200, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that the index found support near the lower end around 24,850 and managed to hold above this level.
“Despite the sharp fall, other technical conditions remain intact, suggesting that the broader trend is still strong and a short-term reversal is possible. However, a decisive break below 24,850 could weaken market sentiment. On the higher side, 25,000 is likely to act as immediate resistance,” said De.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
BSE (Rs 2,679 crore), PayTM (Rs 2,204 crore), Infosys (Rs 1,690 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,590 crore), Reliance Power (Rs 1,534 crore), TCS (Rs 1,400 crore) and CDSL (Rs 1,365 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 41.47 crore), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 21.97 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 11.85 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 9.11 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 7.54 crore), Tata Teleservices (Traded shares: 5 crore) and ONGC (Traded shares: 3.56 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Shares of Tanla Platforms, Nava Bharat Ventures, Orient Refractories, Route Mobile, Rainbow Childrens Medicare, Eris Lifesciences and Redington were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52 Week high
Over 97 stocks hit their 52 week highs today while 34 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows.