India-Pakistan tensions trigger selloff in stock markets, Sensex falls 880 points

Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp decline on Friday as rising tensions between India and Pakistan spooked investors.

The selloff came after Pakistan fired eight missiles at Indian cities in response to India’s precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Fortunately, all the missiles were successfully intercepted by Indian air defence systems.

At the closing bell, the Sensex fell by 880.34 points, or 1.10 per cent, to close at 79,454.47, while the Nifty slipped 265.80 points or 1.10 per cent, to settle at 24,008.

"Nifty traders appeared to embrace risk-off trades amid India-Pakistan tensions, as the index fell from its recent consolidation zone," Rupak De of LKP Securities said.

The Nifty managed to stay above the 24,000 mark as the index found support around the 21-day exponential moving average (EMA), he added.

Among Sensex’s 30 stocks, ICICI Bank led the losses, falling 3.09 per cent during the intra-day session, followed by PowerGrid, which was down 2.61 per cent, Bajaj Finance, which declined 1.84 per cent, and Reliance Industries, which also dropped 1.84 per cent.

However, a few stocks managed to post gains. Titan led the pack with a 4.25 per cent rise, followed by Larsen and Toubro at 4.02 per cent, Tata Motors with 3.86 per cent, State Bank of India at 1.39 per cent, and Asian Paints, which edged up 0.2 per cent.

Investor sentiment was hit across the board. The Nifty Bank, financial services, and realty indices each dropped more than 1 per cent, with the realty sector emerging as the worst performer, plunging nearly 2 per cent.

Other key sectors such as auto, IT, energy, pharma, FMCG, healthcare, and oil and gas also ended the day in the red.

Despite the overall weakness, a few sectors bucked the trend. Nifty PSU Bank, consumer durables, media, and metal stocks managed to close with gains, offering some support to the market.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 index ended flat, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.61 per cent.

Additionally, the rupee traded in a volatile range of 85.90 to 85.35 amid ongoing border tensions between India and Pakistan, with signs of escalation keeping market participants cautious.

"Any fresh developments on the geopolitical front are likely to have a significant impact on the rupee’s direction," said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.