Indian markets kicked off the new Financial Year 2026 tracking the sharp sell-off in US markets overnight. Nifty finished below 23,200, led by selling across sectors, barring media and telecom.
At close, Sensex was down 1,390.41 points or 1.80% at 76,024.51, and the Nifty was down 353.65 points or 1.50% at 23,165.70.
The market opened on a weaker note, with Nifty below 23,350, but fell to hold on a strong recovery in the initial hour and extended losses as the day progressed to close below 23,200.
Among the major sectoral indices, Nifty Realty was the worst performer, losing 3.11%, followed by Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty FMCG, all of which ended in the red with losses ranging between 0.91% and 2.50%.
On the gaining side were media up by 2%, oil & gas by 0.6%, and telecom up by 2%.
IT stocks fell up to 5% as investors remained cautious ahead of Trump’s Liberation Day. Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Persistent Systems fell up to 5%.
Shares of pharma companies were also under selling pressure, pushing the Nifty Pharma index down by over 2%. This marked the fifth consecutive session of losses for the sector.
Further, the Bank Nifty faced selling pressure, with HDFC Bank leading the losses. Shares of HDFC Bank closed over 3% lower at Rs 1,769.90 per share, followed by ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and others.
Nifty Midcap 100 ended 0.86% lower at 51,229 points, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 0.70%, closing at 15,982 points.
On BSE, over 190 stocks touched their 52-week low. These included Punjab and Sind Bank, UCO Bank, IOB, Central Bank of India, Tata Elxsi, Titan Company, Metropolis Healthcare, Happiest Minds, Sona BLW, and Birlasoft, among others.
Thirty-five stocks on Nifty closed lower, led by HCL Technologies and Bajaj Finserv, which dropped 3.9% and 3.5%, respectively. HDFC Bank, BEL, Shriram Finance, Infosys, and Bajaj Finance declined between 2% and 3%.
IndusInd Bank managed to end the session with a 5% gain, followed by Trent and Bajaj Auto, which rose 4.7% and 1.5%, respectively.
The response in the market comes amid investor worries that remain heightened ahead of US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2.