Fall, recovery and a close in the red. That pretty much explains the trading session today. The markets opened after a 1-day Holi break. Quite expectedly, it was a sea of red. The Nifty plunged below 24,400, in fact closer to the 24,300 mark, and the Sensex nosedived 1,700 points tracking global cues and uncertainty about what’s next across West Asia.
The Sensex and the Nifty closed in the red but significantly off the low point of the day. The Nifty closed at 24,480, just a tad short of the crucial and psychologically important 24,500 mark. The Sensex, meanwhile, closed down over 1,100 points. Though this is a significant cut, yet this still represents 800-point recovery from the day’s low point.
The small- and midcaps saw significantly sharper cuts, but even there, indices closed off intra-day lows.
Speaking on the overall market movement , Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments reiterated the need for patience among investors, “Global risk sentiment remained fragile amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which kept oil prices volatile. Indian equities mirrored the broader risk‑off environment due to the impact of inflation and potential for higher CAD. The continued depreciation of the INR also remains a key concern, while incremental foreign outflows lead to near-term volatility in the market. We advise investors to avoid panic sell-off and adopt a disciplined, long-term perspective and exercise patience over the next several weeks, as current price levels may offer a strategic entry point for the medium to long term.”
The big Index losers
That was about the headline numbers. Here is a look into the details. The Index stocks that took the biggest hit included large cap blue chips like L&T. The company has a significant exposure to the Middle East and the investors are apprehensive. As a result, the L&T share price has fallen nearly 12% in the last two days. However, in today’s session it saw some attempt to recoup early losses.
The other stocks with significant losses included the Tata Group stocks like Tata Steel and Tata Motors PV. IndiGo and Shriram Finance too saw some sharp cuts.
The big Index gainers
Win some, lose some – As the saying goes. Today’s session was not just about losers. Some stocks saw significant gains. The stocks like Coal India, Bharti and Infosys bucked the trend in an otherwise falling market. Coal India reacted to the overall surge in crude prices and investors anticipated renewed demand. Infosys responded to the rupee’s weakness in intra-day trade.
Small and midcap losers
The cut across the small and midcap space was much sharper. Counters like Petronet LNG saw as much as 12% cut. This is on concerns of disruption in gas supply after Qatar halted LNG production as a result of Iran’s continued strike on Gulf countries in retaliation. The other key small and midcap losers included the likes of SAIL, RVNL, NMDC and IGL.
IT stocks and the rupee woes
The Rupee logged its worst single day loss since early January. The currency breached the key 92/$ level and the IT stocks saw some support in that. Most of the counters traded in green and Infosys was up over 1%.
Nifty key levels to watch
The Dow Futures signal caution and expert pointed out that the Nifty levels going forward are crucial. According to Sudeep Shah – Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, “Going ahead, the immediate support for Nifty is placed in the 24,300-24,350 zone. This zone acted as a strong support in the month of August 2025. Any sustainable move below this zone could result in Nifty extending its weakness towards 24,100, followed by 23,800 in the short term. On the upside, the 24,650–24,700 zone is likely to act as an immediate resistance”