Indian markets slid sharply on Friday, with the Nifty falling below 24,000 and the Sensex trading around 79,500 by late morning. The indexes were down roughly 1% from their previous closes, extending losses from the prior session. Market breadth was weak as investors grew cautious amid escalating India-Pakistan border tensions. The volatility index (India VIX) spiked nearly 10%, reflecting a jump in trader fear.
Geopolitical angst dominated trading. Reports of Pakistani drone and missile strikes on Indian military bases overnight – dubbed “Operation Sindoor” – fueled fears of further escalation. Defence-related shares bucked the trend: firms like IdeaForge, Premier Explosives and Paras Defence jumped 15–18%, while Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Bharat Dynamics and others gained several percent. Overall, however, most sectors were firmly in the red. In fact, virtually every major sector index fell on the day (with the exception of PSU banks and a few consumer-durable counters).
The selling pressure hit key segments. The Nifty Bank index was off about 1.3%, as private lenders like ICICI Bank slid over 2%. Other heavyweight sectors lagged as well – the BSE Oil & Gas index lost roughly 0.7% and Realty sank over 3%. By contrast, the few bright spots were limited: PSU bank stocks rallied about 1.4% and consumer durables eked out gains, but most parts of the market fell.
Top gainers: Titan, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Tata Motors, SBI and Asian Paints led the gains.
Top losers: ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, NTPC and Power Grid were among the biggest decliners.
Investor flows underscored the cautious mood: provisional data show foreign funds were net buyers (around ₹2,008 crore) on Thursday, while domestic institutions were net sellers (about ₹596 crore). The risk-off tone was also evident globally: Asian markets were subdued ahead of the U.S. Fed’s policy meeting (widely expected to hold rates steady), and European bourses closed mixed. In contrast, the flight to safety pushed the rupee and bonds into reverse: the rupee weakened over 1% (to ~₹85.8 per dollar) and the benchmark 10-year yield rose about 6 basis points to ~6.40%.
Previous Session & Note
On Thursday, May 8 the Sensex closed at 80,334.81 (down 412 points, −0.51%) and the Nifty finished at 24,273.80 (down 140.60 points, −0.58%). Broader markets were mixed: the Nifty Midcap 100 fell ~0.5%, while the Smallcap 100 actually inched up ~0.2%.
Note: The market remains sensitive to geopolitical headlines. Investors should stay cautious and track both local developments (e.g. any further India-Pak military actions or ceasefire news) and global cues (such as U.S. Fed commentary, trade agreements and data) that could drive volatility in the coming days.
