Markets in Freefall: Sensex Sinks 1,000 Points as Geopolitical Jitters Rattle Investors
India’s stock markets took a sharp dive on Friday, with the Sensex plummeting over 1,000 points and the Nifty 50 tumbling by 338 points in a turbulent trading session. Despite a positive global backdrop, the selloff across all major sectors erased early gains, leaving investors rattled.
The BSE Sensex, which opened at 79,830, crashed to an intraday low of 78,797.39 by mid-morning. The NSE Nifty mirrored the fall, slipping from 24,289 at open to 23,908. The downturn was led by financials, particularly Axis Bank, which dropped 3.7% after posting a marginal Q4 profit dip to ₹7,117 crore. Analysts flagged asset quality concerns, warning of short-term turbulence.
Other major drags included Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, and Eternal. Broader indices suffered even sharper losses, compounding the market anxiety.
Experts pointed to rising geopolitical tensions following Tuesday’s deadly Pahalgam terror attack as a major overhang on investor sentiment. “There is uncertainty regarding India’s response to the attack and its broader implications, and that’s making markets nervous,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
However, not all signals were bearish. Vijayakumar noted strong foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows totaling ₹29,513 crore over the past week, alongside positive commentary from US Treasury Secretary Scot Bessent about a potential India-US trade deal.
Still, the markets remain on edge as geopolitical uncertainty and earnings volatility collide in a high-stakes environment.
