Bloodbath on Dalal Street: Indian Benchmark Indices Slide Sharply; IT Sees Worst Weekly Fall Since 2020

About 646 stocks are advancing as against 2,230 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a negative market breadth in the broader market.

Market Update at 3:45 PM: Indian equity indices closed in the deep red on Friday, weighed by IT stock due to U.S. reciprocal tariff announcement. The Sensex closed almost 935 points or 1.23 per cent lower at 75,360, while the Nifty 50 closed 340 points or 1.49 per cent lower at 22,904, the index is still trading below all important moving averages. The Nifty Bank closed 94 points lower and settled at 51,502, mirroring benchmark indices. 

On the NSE, benchmark index Nifty 50 recorded a 46.66 crore volume, whereas the last 20-day average volume stands at 34.31 crore. 

On a weekly basis, Nifty 50 is down by 2.61 per cent. Indian IT stocks slide 8.9 per cent this week, set for the worst week since March 2020. On the day, IT stocks were down 3.4 per cent at a 10-month low. Weaker spending in U.S. hurts IT firms, which depend on the country for over one-third of their revenue.

Broader indices traded with huge losses and closed lower, where Nifty Mid-Cap slipped by 2.91 per cent, while Nifty Small-Cap ended lower by 3.56 per cent. India VIX hovered around the 13.75 mark and was up by 1.4 per cent during the day.

On the sectoral front, 15 out of 17 sectors recorded losses, with Nifty Finance closing with gains of 0.2 per cent, while Nifty Metal was the top-losing sector.

Tata Consumer, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank are among the Top Gainers, while Tata Steel, Hindalco and ONGC are among the top losing stocks from the Nifty 50.

About 646 stocks are advancing as against 2,230 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a negative market breadth in the broader market.

Market Update at 2:30 PM: The Sensex slipped 1.3 per cent to 75,307, while the Nifty 50 dropped 1.53 per cent to 22,903. Information technology stocks continued their slide amid fears of a U.S. recession hitting growth prospects.

On Friday, small and midcap stocks traded with huge losses, dragging broader market indices into negative territory. The Nifty Small-cap index plunged by almost 3.84 per cent, while the Nifty Mid-cap index was down over 3.16 per cent during mid-day trade.

Meanwhile, the India VIX was trading near the 13.8 mark, up by 1.4 per cent.

On the sectoral front, one out of 17 sectors recorded gains, with Nifty finance trading with marginal gains of 0.2 per cent, while Nifty Metal was the top-losing sector.

Tata Consumer, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank are among the top gainers, while Tata Steel, Hindalco and ONGC are among the top losing stocks from the Nifty 50.

About 460 stocks are advancing as against 2,274 stocks that are declining, thus indicating a negative market breadth in the broader market.

Market Update at 12:15 PM: Indian stocks declined on Friday, aligning with the global market downturn amid concerns that U.S. retaliatory tariffs could trigger a worldwide recession. This came after Indian markets had shown relative resilience in the previous session, as the impact of U.S. tariffs on India was milder compared to other countries.

By midday, the Nifty 50 was trading with losses, down 285 points from its previous close, trading below the 23,000 mark with losses of 1.2 per cent. Similarly, the Sensex trading is trading lower with a loss of 778 points or 1.03 per cent. The Bank Nifty showed marginal gains, up by 0.12 per cent. Meanwhile, the India VIX was trading near the 13.5 mark, up by 1 per cent, indicating increased volatility in the Indian market.

By midday, the top gaining stocks that lifted Nifty 50 higher are HDFC Bank (+54.4 pts), Bajaj Finance (+8.69 pts) and Bharti Airtel (+6.35 pts). On the other hand, Reliance Industries (-82.83 pts), Larsen & Toubro (-41.73 pts), and Infosys (-28.17 pts) were dragging the index down.

Nifty 50 was trading below 200-DEM and also crossed below 50-DEMA today; the index is in negative territory.

On Friday, overall market breadth remained negative, as 490 stocks advanced while 2,171 declined. The Nifty Mid-cap 100 and Nifty Small-cap 100 indices were trading in deep red, where Nifty Mid-caps were down by 2.65 per cent, and Nifty Small-cap was up by 3.18 per cent

On the sectoral front, 3 out of 17 sectors recorded gains, with Nifty Finance rising over 0.5 per cent, while Nifty Pharma, down more than 5 per cent, was the top-losing sector. 

Market Update at 10:20 AM: Indian stock markets edged lower on Friday, pressured mainly by continued weakness in information technology shares amid growing concerns over a potential U.S. recession and its impact on global growth.

By 10:15 a.m. IST, the Nifty 50 had declined by 1.22 per cent to 222,960, while the BSE Sensex slipped 0.91 per cent to 75,600.

Out of the 17 sectoral indices, three were trading in the green. Broader market indices, including the Nifty Mid-cap and Nifty Small-cap, were also down by 2.5 per cent.

The Pharma sector was the top laggard after yesterday’s strong rally, with the Nifty Pharma index dropping 4.5 per cent.

On the global trade front, the U.S. rolled out baseline tariffs of 10 per cent on all imports and imposed higher tariffs on nations running trade surpluses with it. India was subjected to a 27 per cent retaliatory tariff, which was still lower compared to China’s 34 per cent, Vietnam’s 46 per cent, and Bangladesh’s 37 per cent.

Pre-Market Update at 7:30 AM: Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are set to open lower on Friday, influenced by weakness in global markets following the imposition of US trade tariffs. Global sentiment has turned negative as US President Donald Trump’s broad-based tariffs have intensified concerns about a potential trade war and economic slowdown.

Asian markets mirrored this cautious outlook, while the US stock market experienced a sharp sell-off overnight, erasing USD 2.4 trillion in market value from S&P 500-listed companies.

Gift Nifty hovered around 23,211, nearly 98 points below the previous close of Nifty futures, signaling a gap-down opening for Indian indices.

Wall Street suffered its steepest single-day percentage drop since 2020. The Dow Jones fell 1,679.39 points (-3.98 per cent) to 40,545.93, while the S&P 500 lost 274.45 points (-4.84 per cent) to 5,396.52. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 1,050.44 points (-5.97 per cent) to 16,550.61.

In the US labor market, jobless claims declined last week, with initial state unemployment filings dropping by 6,000 to 219,000 for the week ending March 29. This was lower than the economists' forecast of 225,000.

Meanwhile, the US services sector slowed to a nine-month low in March. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that the nonmanufacturing PMI dropped from 53.5 in February to 50.8, the weakest reading since June 2024. Market expectations had projected a decline to 53.

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street’s losses on Friday after the announcement of US tariffs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.07 per cent, while the Topix index slipped 2.69 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.15 per cent, and the Kosdaq edged down 0.68 per cent. Markets in Hong Kong and China remained closed for the Qingming Festival.

On Thursday, Indian stock markets ended in the red as Trump’s reciprocal tariffs targeted nations with high trade barriers against US exports, including India. The Sensex dropped 322.08 points (-0.42 per cent) to 76,295.36, while the Nifty 50 closed 82.25 points lower (-0.35 per cent) at 23,250.10.

Crude oil prices declined as Trump’s tariff announcement coincided with OPEC’s decision to accelerate production increases. Brent crude slipped 0.51 per cent to USD 69.78 per barrel, while WTI crude futures dropped 0.52 per cent to USD 66.60.

Most Asian currencies consolidated against the dollar in early Asian trade ahead of U.S. March employment data and Fed Chair Powell's speech. The Dollar index reached 101.54, while  USD/INR was trading at 85.26.

On April 03, 2025, foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 2,806.00 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 221.47 crore.

There are not any stocks banned for trading in the F&O segment on April 04, 2025.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.