Overnight weakness on Wall Street combined with broad-based sell-offs across major Asian markets—including the Nikkei, Hang Seng, and Kospi—weighed on opening sentiment and provided zero counter-momentum throughout the session
KRC TIMES Business Desk
Indian benchmark equity indices suffered severe selling pressure on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex tumbling over 1,000 points and the NSE Nifty sliding to fresh 52-week lows. The widespread sell-off wiped out nearly ₹8 to ₹10 lakh crore in investor wealth within a single trading session, driven by aggressive domestic monetary tightening, surging global crude oil prices, and sustained foreign capital outflows.
Closing Figures & Market Breadth
- BSE Sensex: Plunged 1,045.46 points (-1.44%) to settle at 71,593.24, after touching an intraday low of 71,327.75.
- NSE Nifty 50: Dropped 371.25 points (-1.64%) to close at 22,231.80, dipping below critical technical support and briefly testing an intraday 52-week low of 22,179.90.
- India VIX: The market volatility gauge surged over 8.5% to cross 15.06, underscoring heightened panic and hedging among traders.
- Market Breadth: Heavily skewed toward the bears, with approximately 2,950 declining stocks against just 660 advances on the National Stock Exchange.
Key Triggers Behind the Crash
- RBI Repo Rate Hike & Hawkish Stance
The Reserve Bank of India raised the benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% and formally pivoted its policy stance from “neutral” to “calibrated tightening”. The unexpected hawkish shift dampened expectations of near-term rate cuts and fueled concerns of prolonged liquidity pressure.
- Crude Oil Spike Amid Geopolitical Heat
Escalating regional conflicts in the Middle East and attacks around Gulf shipping lanes pushed international benchmark Brent crude past $104 per barrel. For India, which imports over 80% of its oil requirements, elevated energy prices immediately trigger domestic inflation risks, fiscal deficit widening, and margin compression across manufacturing, paint, aviation, and FMCG sectors.
- Relentless FII Outflows
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) extended their net-selling streak, offloading thousands of crores in equities. Stiff competition from rising US Treasury yields and an appreciating US Dollar—with the Indian Rupee softening near ₹96.78/$—further catalyzed capital rotation away from emerging markets.
- Weak Global Cues
Overnight weakness on Wall Street combined with broad-based sell-offs across major Asian markets—including the Nikkei, Hang Seng, and Kospi—weighed on opening sentiment and provided zero counter-momentum throughout the session.
Sectoral Impact & Key Movers
- Top Laggards: Nifty Realty (-2.41% to -3%) and Nifty Metal (-3%) were the hardest hit, alongside sharp downturns in Oil & Gas (-2.66%), Healthcare (-2.18%), and FMCG (-1.64%).
- Individual Heavyweights Under Pressure: Major drags on the benchmark included ITC (-4.24%), InterGlobe Aviation (-3.36%), Power Grid (-3.16%), Reliance Industries (-2.5%), as well as steep intraday cuts across Adani Group counters.
- Outperformers: Select IT counters bucked the prevailing trend, with modest defensive accumulation seen in Tech Mahindra and Infosys.
