Indian equity markets saw a steep decline on Friday, triggered by rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan that unsettled investor sentiment.
The downturn followed reports that Pakistan had launched eight missiles aimed at different locations in India. Although Indian air defence systems successfully intercepted or neutralized the threats, the incident led to increased security alerts in New Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and Punjab, intensifying market concerns.
The 30-share benchmark index ended at 79454.47 down by -880.34 points or by -1.1 % and then NSE Nifty was at 24008 down by -265.8 points or by -1.1 %.
Sensex touched intraday high of 80032.93 and intraday low of 78968.34 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 24164.25 and intraday low of 23935.75
The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Titan Company Ltd. (Rs. 3510.80,+4.38%), Tata Motors Ltd. (Rs. 708.50,+3.90%), Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (Rs. 3445.70,+3.77%), State Bank of India (Rs. 779.40,+1.39%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 2303.00,+0.02%), among others.
The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1388.70,-3.16%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 299.55,-2.70%), UltraTech Cement Ltd. (Rs. 11379.05,-2.15%), Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 8640.20,-2.02%), Reliance Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1377.75,-1.93%), among others.
CGS index was at 62852.21 up by 1031.58 points or by 1.67%. Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (Rs. 1531.15,+5.34%), Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (Rs. 3445.70,+3.77%), ABB India Ltd. (Rs. 5443.45,+3.22%), Bharat Electronics Ltd. (Rs. 315.75,+2.92%), Thermax Ltd. (Rs. 3234.75,+2.47%),.
Realty index was at 6394.24 down by -135.6 points or by -2.08%. Macrotech Developers Ltd. (Rs. 1236.05,-3.80%), DLF Ltd. (Rs. 637.00,-2.79%), Anant Raj Ltd. (Rs. 428.65,-2.26%), Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. (Rs. 1289.15,-1.73%), Godrej Industries Ltd. (Rs. 2000.00,-1.41%),.
The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4201 , shares advanced were 1440 while 2594 shares declined and 167 were unchanged.