Stock market crash today: Nifty50 ends below 25,900; BSE Sensex down 780 points

Stock market today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, the equity benchmarks, extended their losing streak for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, with the Sensex and Nifty sliding nearly 1 per cent amid renewed worries over possible US tariff hikes and broad-based weakness in global markets.The NSE Nifty fell 263.90 points, or 1.01 per cent, to end the session at 25,876.85. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 780.18 points, or 0.92 per cent, to close at 84,180.96, after hitting an intraday low of 84,110.10, down 851.04 points. Market sentiment remained under pressure due to sustained foreign fund outflows and sharp declines in metal, oil and gas, and commodity stocks, analysts said. Heavyweights such as Larsen and Toubro, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and Trent were among the top drags on the Sensex. In contrast, Eternal, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Bharat Electronics provided some support.The selloff followed fresh geopolitical concerns after US President Donald Trump backed a sanctions bill that could impose tariffs as high as 500 per cent on countries purchasing Russian oil, a move seen as increasing pressure on major buyers such as India and China. US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday that the proposed legislation would give the White House “tremendous leverage” against countries like China, India and Brazil to push them to stop buying discounted Russian crude.Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said, “Markets ended Thursday’s session on a weaker note as selling pressure intensified, largely in response to feeble global cues. The Nifty opened lower and remained under pressure throughout the session, eventually settling near the day’s low at 25,876.85, down by nearly 1%. Sectoral performance was broadly negative, with metals, energy and IT stocks witnessing significant selling pressure. The broader markets also came under sharp pressure, with both midcap and smallcap indices declining by around 2% each, highlighting broad-based weakness and a cautious stance among participants.”“Market sentiment deteriorated amid heightened geopolitical tensions and global trade-related concerns, which weighed on overall risk appetite. Continued foreign institutional selling, coupled with weakness in the rupee, further added to the negative bias. With global cues remaining mixed and the earnings season approaching, trading activity remained cautious and largely stock-specific.”“Technically, the Nifty has breached the lower band of its rising channel and retested the crucial support zone around the previous swing low near 25,880. Sustained trading below this level could disrupt the prevailing uptrend and potentially drag the index towards the 25,600–25,700 zone. On the upside, the earlier support in the form of the short-term 20-day DEMA, placed around 26,050, is likely to act as an immediate hurdle, followed by a stronger resistance near 26,300. Participants are advised to maintain strict risk management in existing short-term positions amid heightened volatility and wait for clearer directional cues."Asian markets presented a mixed picture, with South Korea’s Kospi index closing higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices ended lower. European equities were trading slightly in the red, and US markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.75 per cent to USD 60.42 per barrel.In the previous session on Wednesday, the Sensex had slipped 102.20 points, or 0.12 per cent, to settle at 84,961.14, while the Nifty declined 37.95 points, or 0.14 per cent, to close at 26,140.75.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)