Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined sharply on Friday due to selling in Axis Bank and growing tensions along the Indo-Pak border following the terror attack at Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir.
Wiping out all early gains, the 30-share BSE barometer tanked 588.90 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 79,212.53. During the day, it dropped 1,195.62 points or 1.49 per cent to 78,605.81.
Falling for the second day, the NSE Nifty tumbled 207.35 points or 0.86 per cent to 24,039.35.
Experts said worries over growing geopolitical tensions after Tuesday's Pahalgam terror attack weighed on market sentiment.
"Investor sentiment turned cautious amid escalating tensions along the Indo-Pak border. Mid and smallcap stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off, driven by their elevated valuations and growing concerns over potential earnings downgrades following a muted start to the earnings season," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Among Sensex shares, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Eternal, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and NTPC were the biggest laggards.
Axis Bank declined over 3 per cent after the country's third largest private sector lender reported a sharp rise in loan loss provisions and a steep fall in the trading income for the last quarter of 2024-25. The bank's profit declined marginally in the March quarter to Rs 7,117 crore, from Rs 7,130 crore in the year-ago period.
However, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever and ICICI Bank were the gainers.
Despite Nifty opening at a higher level on Friday, geopolitical tensions with the neighbouring nation have led to the drop in the index, Ajay Garg, CEO, SMC Global Securities, said.
"In the last few days, Nifty has also revived to 24,000 points with FII buying, banking stocks rally, and expectations of a positive outcome from the US-India trade talks. Along with the geopolitical tensions, profit-booking by investors also added to today’s market drop," Garg added.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in the positive territory. Shanghai SSE Composite ended marginally lower.
Markets in Europe were trading higher.
US markets ended significantly higher on Thursday. Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.74 per cent, S&P 500 surged 2.03 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.23 per cent.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 8,250.53 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.50 per cent to USD 66.24 a barrel.
On Thursday, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 315.06 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 79,801.43 on Thursday. The Nifty went down by 82.25 points or 0.34 per cent to 24,246.70.
