The Indian equity market closed significantly lower on Friday due to escalating conflict in the West Aisa. Investors lost over Rs 14 lakh crore in the past two trading sessions, with the market capitalization of all listed companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) dropping from Rs 475 lakh crore to Rs 461 lakh crore.
Major Indices Decline
At the end of trading, the Sensex fell by 808 points, or 0.98%, to close at 81,688. Meanwhile, the Nifty dropped 235 points, or 0.93%, settling at 25,014. Major companies that experienced losses included M&M, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Asian Paints, and HDFC Bank. In contrast, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Motors were among the few gainers.
Midcap and smallcap stocks also faced selling pressure. The Nifty Midcap index finished at 58,747, down 550 points or 0.93%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 18,758, down 193 points or 1.02%.
Sectoral Performance and Market Outlook
All major sectoral indices, including Auto, Fin service, pharma, and FMCG, showed declines, except for IT and PSU bank indices, which managed to close in the green. The India VIX, an indicator of market volatility, increased by 7.21% to close at 14.12.
Market experts noted that bearish sentiment prevailed as investors reacted to the Middle East situation, opting for a sell-on-recovery strategy. They highlighted that crude prices have surged but may stabilize due to increased OPEC production. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 15,243 crore on October 3, while domestic institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 12,914 crore on the same day.
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