The BSE Sensex sank 1,279 points from the day's high on Friday, while the Nifty tested 22,400. Markets fell as heavyweights like HDFC Bank and Reliance saw selling pressure. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan said, "At this level, oil is no longer just creating temporary pressure on sentiment; if sustained, it could keep inflation."
Stock market crash on Friday: Sensex tumbles 1,279 points in intra-day trade; Nifty tests 22,400.
Benchmark equity indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50, erased early gains and slipped sharply into the red in Friday's trading session amid renewed selling pressure in the market.
The BSE Sensex crashed as much as 1,279 points or 1.7 per cent from the day's high of 73,761.51 to an intraday low of 72,487. In the process, the index quoted in red for the fourth straight trading session. Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 index plunged 380 points or 1.7 per cent from the day's high of 22,787 to a low of 22,407. At 10:45 AM, the Sensex quoted 433 points or 0.6 per cent lower at 72,813, while the Nifty was down 198 points or 0.9 per cent at 22,489. In the last four straight trading sessions, the Sensex and the Nifty have crashed around 3 per cent each. Here are the key reasons for the market fall on Friday:
Heavyweights weigh; RIL, HDFC Bank chief laggards
Index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance were the key laggards, accounting for roughly 15 per cent of the loss on the Nifty. ALSO READ | Microcap 250 index slips 2%; Aeroflex, Rallis, Bluestone slide up to 8% In terms of percentage, Hindalco and Tata Steel down 3 per cent each were the major losers. Followed by HDFC Life, Jio Financial Services, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Titan, Adani Enterprises and NTPC down over 2 per cent each. IT stocks, however, bucked the trend on Friday. TCS rallied over 2 per cent, while Infosys gained more than 1 per cent ahead of its Q2 results.
Brent tops $114/barrel
Brent oil prices soared to a high of $114.70 per barrel, its highest point since May 04, 2026. On April 30, Brent hit a record high of $126.40. Oil prices have now risen by 63.5 per cent from the July 2 low of $70.14. Crude oil prices have been rising in recent days amid reports of Houthi attacks on Saudi targets. Reports suggest that Saudi Aramco has directed staff to leave its Dhahran headquarters amid heightening concerns over regional energy infrastructure. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth reckons that Brent at $114 is the dominant risk for India. "At this level, oil is no longer just creating temporary pressure on sentiment; if sustained, it could keep inflation expectations elevated and gradually affect consumption and corporate profitability," said Radhakrishnan. High crude prices remain a key headwind for oil-sensitive sectors, making a broad-based equity recovery difficult without a sustained cooling in energy markets, the analyst added.
Nifty remains technically weak
Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities flags that a small candle was formed on the daily chart on the Nifty with upper and lower shadow. ALSO READ | Nifty set to log 3rd longest technical correction; shallowest in history The analyst says the market action signals the formation of a 'Doji' type candle pattern which echoes continuation of the downtrend with heightened volatility. "Sometime such 'Doji' formations after a reasonable decline or at supports result in a reversal pattern on the upside," adds Shetti. However, since the immediate support has been violated on the downside around 22,700-22,750 levels, the analyst believes that the underlying trend of Nifty continues to be down. He cautions that further weakness from here could drag Nifty down to the next lower support of 22,300-22,200 levels by next week. Disclaimer: Views and outlook in this report belong to the brokerages and analysts cited. They do not reflect the views of Business Standard. Readers are advised to exercise discretion.