The Indian stock market remained under pressure for the second straight session on April 25, as heightened tensions between India and Pakistan coupled with profit booking and unimpressive earnings season led to a broad-based sell-off.
Investors grew cautious following the Pahalgam terror attack, and the geopolitical jitters appear to have pushed the market deeper into the red.
Sensex ended the day down 589 points, or 0.74%, at 79,212.53, while the Nifty 50 shed 207 points, or 0.86%, to settle at 24,039.35. The deeper wounds, however, were visible in the broader market. The BSE Midcap index fell 2.44%, while the Smallcap index slipped 2.56%.
Investors felt the burn in their wallets. The cumulative market capitalisation of all BSE-listed firms shrunk from nearly ₹430 lakh crore to ₹421 lakh crore in just one session—roughly ₹9 lakh crore gone in a day.
Over the past two trading days, the Sensex has lost 904 points (down 1.1%), while the Nifty 50 has declined 290 points (down 1.2%).
The volatility index—India VIX—jumped nearly 6% to 17.16, a sign that investors are increasingly jittery. Analysts point to growing Indo-Pak tensions, an underwhelming start to Q4 earnings, and external pressures like uncertainty over US tariffs and downward revisions of India’s growth outlook by institutions like the World Bank and IMF.
Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services, noted that the sell-off in mid- and small-caps was driven by high valuations and worries over possible earnings downgrades.
Technically speaking, the Nifty has slipped below its 200-day moving average—a level closely watched by traders. Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said this move suggests the index might be re-entering bearish territory.
Despite the gloomy picture, a handful of large-cap stocks managed to close in the green. SBI Life Insurance rose 5.15%, while Tech Mahindra, TCS, and Infosys logged marginal gains ranging from 0.58% to 1.02%.
But these few green shoots couldn’t make up for the wide-scale decline across the rest of the index.
The top laggards in the Nifty 50 pack were Shriram Finance (down 8.13%), Adani Enterprises (down 3.95%) and Adani Ports (down 3.79%). Overall, 41 of the 50 Nifty stocks ended the day in negative territory.
Only one sector survived the sell-off—Nifty IT, which edged up 0.72%. All others took a hit:
Nifty Media: down 3.24%
Realty: down 2.80%
Healthcare: down 2.42%
Pharma: down 2.24%
Metal: down 2.10%
Consumer Durables: down 1.85%
Auto: down 1.67%
Oil & Gas: down 1.43%
Even the banking pack was dragged down, with Nifty Bank falling 0.97%, and Financial Services losing 1.02%. Public sector banks (down 2.24%) and private banks (down 1.28%) also followed the broader downtrend.
In terms of sheer trading volumes, Vodafone Idea led the charts with 187.37 crore shares changing hands. YES Bank (10.93 crore) and Suzlon (10.4 crore) also saw heavy activity.
Not every stock followed the herd. Four stocks jumped more than 10% on NSE:
Lakshmi Finance & Industrial Corporation: up 20%
Carraro India: up 15.57%
Manaksia Steels: up 14.52%
Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances: up 10.50%
Some stocks weren’t as lucky. Bhandari Hosiery Exports (down 11.93%), SRM Contractors (down 11.91%), PVP Ventures (down 11.08%) and Mindteck India (down 10.02%) saw deep cuts.
The carnage extended to the circuit breakers too. Around 146 stocks, including Senco Gold, Sky Gold and Sangani Hospitals, hit their lower circuit on the NSE.
Out of the total stocks traded on NSE, only 455 advanced, while 2,428 declined. Another 64 remained unchanged—a clear indication of market-wide negativity.
On the BSE, 58 stocks, including UPL, UltraTech Cement and Coromandel International, touched their 52-week highs. At the same time, 40 others, such as Jai Balaji Industries and Uma Exports, dropped to their 52-week lows.
(By arrangement with Livemint.com)
