Indian benchmark indices ended lower on Thursday, halting a seven-session rally, as financials led the retreat on profit booking, while geopolitical tensions escalated following India's strong diplomatic response against Pakistan in response to a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 dead.
The benchmark BSE Sensex lost 315.06 points or 0.39% to close at 79,801.43, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at 24,246.70, lower by 82.25 points or 0.34%.
The market capitalization of all listed companies on the BSE decreased by Rs 1.63 lakh crore to Rs 429.63 lakh crore.
Sector Watch
Heavyweight financials and information technology stocks declined 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, dragging the market lower. Heavyweight lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank slipped 1.6% and 0.5%.
The pullback came as geopolitical tensions escalated. India announced a series of measures to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan following a deadly terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 civilians — the worst such assault in nearly two decades. Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue the attackers "to the ends of the earth," while Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri pointed to cross-border involvement.
The benchmark indices had rallied 8.6% over the previous seven sessions, closing at their highest levels of 2025 on Wednesday.
Broader markets also weakened on the day, with the midcap and smallcap indices falling between 0.1% and 0.2%.
Among individual stocks, Hindustan Unilever tumbled 4.1%, becoming the biggest loser on the Nifty after its quarterly earnings narrowly missed estimates due to rising expenses and subdued urban demand.
Nestle India ended flat, reversing intraday gains after reporting lower profit, weighed by high commodity costs.
On the upside, Samhi Hotels surged 11.1% after announcing a joint venture with Singapore’s GIC to develop upscale hotels in India.
Divi’s Laboratories climbed 4.9%, leading the pharma index 1.1% higher, after Citi raised its price target and earnings forecast, citing growth potential from weight-loss drug opportunities.
Expert View
The domestic market witnessed mild profit booking after the recent rally, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that the global markets too experienced selling pressure as the market participants scaled back the possibility of a quick resolution of tariff disputes between the U.S. and China.
“FMCG majors’ Q4 results were weak, impacted by subdued volumes and margin pressure, which led the sector to underperform. However, benign input prices and improvement in urban & rural demand are expected to revive the sector, which is available at reasonable valuations," said Nair.
"Markets remained subdued, trading within a narrow range on the monthly expiry day of the April derivatives contracts, and ended slightly lower… This phase of consolidation in the index is in line with expectations and may continue in the coming sessions. Therefore, we recommend maintaining a focus on stock selection and using market dips as buying opportunities,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research at Religare Broking.
Global Markets
Global stocks drifted on Thursday while a brief rebound in the dollar faded, as investors grappled with mixed signals from the Trump administration on trade policy and the Federal Reserve's leadership.
Over the past week, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell before walking back calls for his resignation, and remained unclear on tariff plans for Chinese imports. A Reuters report said the U.S. may consider lowering tariffs pending talks with Beijing. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt emphasized no unilateral action would be taken.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.72%, diverging from Wall Street gains on Wednesday driven by hopes of easing Sino-U.S. tensions. U.S. futures lost ground, with Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures down 0.32% and 0.23%, respectively.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4%, while China’s CSI300 inched up 0.06%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped over 1%. China’s central bank governor reaffirmed support for free trade and multilateralism, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
In commodities, gold climbed 1.1% to $3,324.23 an ounce, nearing record highs. The U.S. 10-year yield fell 3.5 basis points to 4.3578%.
Crude Impact
Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, recovering some ground after a nearly 2% drop in the previous session, as investors weighed the possibility of an OPEC+ supply increase against mixed signals on U.S. tariffs and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.
Brent crude futures rose 53 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.65 a barrel as of 0706 GMT.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee closed higher on Thursday, with exporter dollar sales providing support. The rupee ended 0.2% stronger at 85.26 to the U.S. dollar, compared to its previous close of 85.42.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.51% at 99.33.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) made net equity purchases worth Rs 3,333 crore on April 23, while domestic investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,234 crore.
The benchmark BSE Sensex lost 315.06 points or 0.39% to close at 79,801.43, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at 24,246.70, lower by 82.25 points or 0.34%.
The market capitalization of all listed companies on the BSE decreased by Rs 1.63 lakh crore to Rs 429.63 lakh crore.
Sector Watch
Heavyweight financials and information technology stocks declined 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, dragging the market lower. Heavyweight lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank slipped 1.6% and 0.5%.
The pullback came as geopolitical tensions escalated. India announced a series of measures to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan following a deadly terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 civilians — the worst such assault in nearly two decades. Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue the attackers "to the ends of the earth," while Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri pointed to cross-border involvement.
The benchmark indices had rallied 8.6% over the previous seven sessions, closing at their highest levels of 2025 on Wednesday.
Broader markets also weakened on the day, with the midcap and smallcap indices falling between 0.1% and 0.2%.
Among individual stocks, Hindustan Unilever tumbled 4.1%, becoming the biggest loser on the Nifty after its quarterly earnings narrowly missed estimates due to rising expenses and subdued urban demand.
Nestle India ended flat, reversing intraday gains after reporting lower profit, weighed by high commodity costs.
On the upside, Samhi Hotels surged 11.1% after announcing a joint venture with Singapore’s GIC to develop upscale hotels in India.
Divi’s Laboratories climbed 4.9%, leading the pharma index 1.1% higher, after Citi raised its price target and earnings forecast, citing growth potential from weight-loss drug opportunities.
Expert View
The domestic market witnessed mild profit booking after the recent rally, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that the global markets too experienced selling pressure as the market participants scaled back the possibility of a quick resolution of tariff disputes between the U.S. and China.
“FMCG majors’ Q4 results were weak, impacted by subdued volumes and margin pressure, which led the sector to underperform. However, benign input prices and improvement in urban & rural demand are expected to revive the sector, which is available at reasonable valuations," said Nair.
"Markets remained subdued, trading within a narrow range on the monthly expiry day of the April derivatives contracts, and ended slightly lower… This phase of consolidation in the index is in line with expectations and may continue in the coming sessions. Therefore, we recommend maintaining a focus on stock selection and using market dips as buying opportunities,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research at Religare Broking.
Global Markets
Global stocks drifted on Thursday while a brief rebound in the dollar faded, as investors grappled with mixed signals from the Trump administration on trade policy and the Federal Reserve's leadership.
Over the past week, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell before walking back calls for his resignation, and remained unclear on tariff plans for Chinese imports. A Reuters report said the U.S. may consider lowering tariffs pending talks with Beijing. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt emphasized no unilateral action would be taken.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.72%, diverging from Wall Street gains on Wednesday driven by hopes of easing Sino-U.S. tensions. U.S. futures lost ground, with Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures down 0.32% and 0.23%, respectively.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4%, while China’s CSI300 inched up 0.06%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped over 1%. China’s central bank governor reaffirmed support for free trade and multilateralism, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
In commodities, gold climbed 1.1% to $3,324.23 an ounce, nearing record highs. The U.S. 10-year yield fell 3.5 basis points to 4.3578%.
Crude Impact
Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, recovering some ground after a nearly 2% drop in the previous session, as investors weighed the possibility of an OPEC+ supply increase against mixed signals on U.S. tariffs and ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.
Brent crude futures rose 53 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.65 a barrel as of 0706 GMT.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee closed higher on Thursday, with exporter dollar sales providing support. The rupee ended 0.2% stronger at 85.26 to the U.S. dollar, compared to its previous close of 85.42.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.51% at 99.33.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) made net equity purchases worth Rs 3,333 crore on April 23, while domestic investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,234 crore.
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