The Sensex crashed more than 1,470 points to close at 74,564, while the Nifty 50 dropped about 489 points to 23,151. The sharp selloff wiped out nearly Rs 10 lakh crore from the total market capitalisation of all companies listed on the BSE, pulling it down to Rs 430 lakh crore.
Notably, Sensex has fallen below the 75,000 mark and Nifty 50 has dropped below the 23,200 level for the first time today since April 2025.
Shares of Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, State Bank of India (SBI), Bharat Electronics and Maruti Suzuki were among the top losers on the Sensex, falling 3–7%. Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel were the only gainers.
All sectoral indices on the NSE closed in the red. Nifty Metal was the top loser, falling around 5%, followed by Nifty Auto which was down 4%. On the NSE, 580 stocks advanced, while 2,645 declined and 93 remained unchanged.
Here are the key factors weighing on markets today:
1) Iran-Israel war rages on
Despite bleak assurances by the US administration, the war in the oil-rich Middle East continued to escalate. Leaders of Iran, Israel and the US have vowed to fight on as war approached the two-week mark on Friday.
An Iranian drone reportedly struck fuel storage facilities near Bahrain International Airport on Muharraq Island, triggering massive fire. Hostilities were seen in other parts of the oil-rich region as well.
2) Oil jumps back above $100
Crude oil prices surged back above the $100-mark as the war between Iran and Israel-US showed no sign of resolution, with Iran’s new supreme leader warning that the Strait of Hormuz will continue to remain shut for traffic.
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader and son of Ayatollah Khamenei, called the Strait of Hormuz a strategic “tool of pressure” that must remain shut amid the war. In a message on state television, Mojtaba Khamenei warned that US bases across the region can face attacks as Iran seeks revenge for the deaths caused by the conflict.
Oil prices soared as a result of rising expectations of continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which remains a critical chokepoint for trade. The narrow 33-kilometre-long waterway connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and carries over 20% of the world’s oil and gas shipments.
Brent crude futures gained nearly 0.6% to $101.1 per barrel, while WTI Crude gained around 0.09% to $95.82 per barrel. The crude oil prices crossed the key psychological mark of $100 on Monday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back in 2022. Oil prices cooled down later, falling below the $90 mark on hopes of a sooner end to the raging war. However, the prices have again soared on the back of rising hostilities and sharp warnings from Tehran’s new leadership, which has threatened that prices may soar to as high as $200 per barrel.
Notably, today’s rise in prices comes despite US President Donald Trump-led administration issuing a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products. Additionally, US Energy Department had said that the country would be releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to curb sky-rocketing oil prices, as part of the broader commitment by the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil.
3) Global markets
Global markets remained broadly in the deep red, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi falling more than 1% each. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite fell around 1% each.
Wall Street ended the previous session with deep cuts. S&P 500 declined more than 1.5%, while Nasdaq tumbled 1.8%. European markets were also in the red. UK’s FTSE fell 0.18%, Germany’s DAX declined 0.43% while France’s CAC fell 0.54%, as seen at 3.45 pm.
4) Rupee hits fresh all-time low
The Indian rupee hit a fresh all-time low, falling 20 paise to close at 92.45 against the US dollar. The Indian currency has seen a significant decline recently, falling around 2% since the war between Iran and Israel-US broke out. Oil movements remain a key driver for the rupee, which tends to widen India’s import bill and weigh on the currency, said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities said.
5) Bond yield rises
Two-year US treasury yields hit a six-month high on Thursday as Iran increased its attacks on energy and transport targets in the Gulf, sparking a rally in oil prices and stoking concerns about resurgent inflation that could keep US interest rates higher for longer. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 4.9 basis points to 4.255%, the highest since February 5.
6) FII selling streak extends to 10th day
Foreign investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the tenth consecutive session on Thursday, net selling shares worth nearly Rs 7,050 crore. FIIs have so far sold Indian equities worth around Rs 57169 crore over these ten sessions till Thursday.
While this doesn’t reflect their trading behaviour today, persistent selling by foreign investors seen for the past several sessions dampens investor sentiment.
What should investors do?
“The deep sell-off witnessed in the street was triggered by a perfect storm: escalating geopolitical conflict leading to macroeconomic shocks, along with margin-related technical pressures that forced squaring-off of short-term positions,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.
The analyst noted crude oil prices are surging back to $100 per barrel, raising concerns over inflation, corporate margins, and INR stability. Metals and auto stocks were among the worst hit today, as supply constraints and higher input costs are expected to hit business and profitability.
“Heightened volatility weakened trader sentiment, discouraging them from carrying positions into the weekend amid persistent geopolitical risks. The lack of buying support from domestic institutional and retail investors, coupled with continued FII outflows, intensified the decline,” the analyst added.
Technical view
Technically, the weakness is significant as Nifty closed below its 100-week EMA for the first time since June 2022 and slipped below the 20-month EMA for the first time since February 2025, said SBI Securities. “Momentum indicators remain strongly negative, with the RSI falling below 25, indicating sharp bearish momentum, while a rising ADX highlights strengthening downside trend pressure,” it added.
“Going ahead, the immediate support for Nifty is placed in the 23000-22950 zone. Any sustainable move below this zone could result in Nifty extending its weakness towards 22750, followed by 22500 in the short term. On the upside, the zone of 23450–23500 zone is likely to act as a strong resistance,” it further said.