After opening on a muted note, the market mood quickly turned negative as selling pressure continued. In intraday trade, the benchmark indices are drifting lower. At this hour, the Sensex slipped over 700 points, or nearly 1%, falling below the 78,500 mark. On similar lines, the Nifty also dropped below 24,500, declining close to 200 points or around 0.85%.
Let’s take a look at the 4 reasons why the markets are under pressure today –
IT stocks drag the market lower
The biggest pressure point came from the tech sector stocks, which saw heavy selling across the board.
The Nifty IT index tumbled close to 4%. Almost all major IT stocks traded in the red.
HCL Tech emerged as the biggest drag, plunging nearly 10% after its Q4FY26 results failed to impress the Street. Brokerages turned cautious following the numbers. JM Financial downgraded the stock to ‘reduce’ and cut its target price to Rs 1,350. Motilal Oswal, however, maintained a ‘Buy’ rating with a target of Rs 1,650,. Nomura also retained a ‘Buy’ with an upside of around 11%, factoring in slower growth and guidance concerns.
Infosys, Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra, and Coforge dropped around 4% each, while TCS, LTIMindtree, and Mphasis also traded lower with stocks down between 1-2%
The only stock that managed to stay in the green was Oracle Financial Services.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments said, “The Nifty IT Index declined amid cautious management commentary and conservative FY27 guidance. Weak discretionary spending, AI-led pricing pressure, delayed client decision cycles, and slow deal ramp-ups weighed on investor sentiment. Ongoing West Asian tensions further clouded visibility, keeping growth expectations subdued and limiting confidence in a sector-wide recovery.”
Global worries add to investor caution
Apart from domestic triggers, global developments also weighed on sentiment.
Asian markets were trading lower in today’s trading session. The weakness comes amid renewed concerns over geopolitical tension in the Middle East, which have added uncertainty to global markets.
“The declaration of indefinite ceasefire by President Trump and Iran’s indifferent and suspect response to it means the uncertainty will continue. Anything can happen any time,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.
Crude oil stays high, keeps pressure on sentiment
Another factor adding to the nervousness is the movement in crude oil prices.
Although prices have eased slightly, they continue to remain high.
Furthermore, the concerns around the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing US-Iran developments are keeping oil markets volatile.
Volatility spikes as fear returns
The rise in India VIX, often referred to as the fear gauge of the market. The index jumped more than 6.5% in the intraday trading session today.