New Delhi, 08 July (H.S.):

Indian equity markets witnessed a massive sell-off on Wednesday after rising tensions in West Asia and U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that the ceasefire with Iran had ended triggered panic across global financial markets. Domestic benchmark indices came under intense selling pressure throughout the trading session, resulting in one of the sharpest declines in recent weeks.

The market opened on a weak note and remained under pressure throughout the day due to negative global sentiment. Selling intensified as the session progressed, dragging both the Sensex and the Nifty significantly lower. Shortly before 2:00 p.m., following the announcement regarding the end of the ceasefire, markets witnessed a wave of panic selling, leading to a sharp collapse in benchmark indices. By the close of trade, the BSE Sensex had fallen 2.15 per cent, while the NSE Nifty ended 2.12 per cent lower.

Every sectoral index closed in negative territory during the session. Public sector bank stocks witnessed heavy selling, causing the Nifty PSU Bank Index to decline by 2.56 per cent. The Nifty Private Bank Index also ended 2.42 per cent lower.

Apart from banking stocks, automobile, infrastructure, and oil and gas companies remained under sustained selling pressure throughout the day. Information Technology, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, FMCG, Healthcare, Metal, and Public Sector Enterprise indices also closed with significant losses.

The broader market also remained under pressure. The Nifty Midcap Index ended 1.55 per cent lower, while the Smallcap Index registered a steeper decline of 2.24 per cent.

The sharp correction erased nearly Rs 8.24 lakh crore from investors' wealth in a single trading session. The total market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE declined to a provisional Rs 471.44 lakh crore at the close of trading, compared with Rs 479.68 lakh crore in the previous trading session on Tuesday. As a result, investors suffered an estimated loss of approximately Rs 8.24 lakh crore.

A total of 4,454 stocks were actively traded on the BSE during the session. Of these, 1,070 advanced, while 3,211 declined and 173 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,004 stocks witnessed active trading, with only 473 closing in the green and 2,531 ending in negative territory.

All 30 constituent stocks of the Sensex closed lower. On the Nifty, only four of the 50 constituent stocks finished in positive territory, while the remaining 46 ended with losses.

The BSE Sensex opened 364.27 points lower at 77,816.45. Initial buying lifted the index briefly to an intraday high of 77,851.18 before sustained selling pressure took over. Although buyers attempted intermittent recoveries during the session, the intensity of selling prevented any meaningful rebound.

Shortly before 2:00 p.m., after reports of the ceasefire ending between the United States and Iran, widespread panic selling gripped the market. The Sensex plunged as much as 1,921.69 points during intraday trade to touch 76,259.03. Late buying during the final minutes of trading helped the index recover 244.57 points from the day's low, but it still closed down by 1,677.12 points, or 2.15 per cent, at 76,503.60.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 139.15 points lower at 24,259.55. Early buying pushed the benchmark to 24,295.25 before renewed selling pressure dragged it down to 24,207.20.

Fresh buying around 10:30 a.m. enabled the index to briefly recover above the 24,300 mark. However, sellers quickly regained control. Around 1:45 p.m., fears of an escalation in the West Asia conflict triggered another round of heavy selling across the market.

Just before the close, the Nifty had plunged 593.50 points to an intraday low of 23,805.20. Some intraday settlement-related buying helped the benchmark recover 76.85 points from its lowest level, but it still finished the session down 516.65 points, or 2.12 per cent, at 23,882.05.

Among the benchmark stocks, only four companies managed to close in positive territory. ONGC emerged as the top gainer, rising 1.15 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, which gained 0.54 per cent. Hindalco Industries advanced 0.22 per cent, while Coal India ended marginally higher by 0.02 per cent.

On the losing side, Jio Financial Services was the worst performer, declining 5.38 per cent. InterGlobe Aviation fell 5.02 per cent, Shriram Finance dropped 4.91 per cent, Maruti Suzuki lost 4.04 per cent, and Hindustan Unilever declined 3.30 per cent, making them the top five losers of the trading session.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar