Stock market: Sensex slips 387 pts, Nifty below 25,150; ICICI Bank, BEL lead losers

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty began Wednesday’s session on a negative note after Tuesday’s sharp decline, the steepest single-day percentage fall since May 2025. Market sentiment remained fragile amid persistent global trade-related uncertainties and continued selling pressure from foreign investors.

At 9:20 am, the BSE Sensex was down 74.94 points, or 0.09%, to 82,105.53 after slipping nearly 387 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 74.94 points, or 0.07%, to 25,214.20, after briefly touching a low of 25,130.15. 

Among Sensex constituents, ICICI Bank slipped 1.12% to Rs 1360. Bharat Electronics (BEL) declined 1.01%, while Trent, L&T and Bharti Airtel fell 0.89%, 0.68% and 0.48%, respectively.

Asian markets traded mostly in red. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.56% lower at 52,693.43, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.46% to 4,863.37. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.20% to 26,434.05.

All three of the major indices closed lower on Wall Street overnight. The S&P 500 fell 2.06% to close at 6,796.86, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.76% to 48,488.59. The tech-savvy Nasdaq Composite declined 2.39% to settle at 22,954.32.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Sensex slipped 1065.71 points, or 1.28 per cent, to settle at 82,180.47, while the Nifty fell 353 points, or 1.38 per cent, to end at 25,232.50.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said that global markets are currently risk-off in response to Trump's Greenland policy, threatened tariffs on eight European countries, and Europe's hardening anti-Trump stance. 

According to Vijayakumar, global stock markets are down, and people are flocking to gold for safety. It is unclear how the situation will develop. If the threatened tariffs go into effect, Europe will retaliate, resulting in a trade war with negative consequences for global trade and growth. If this scenario plays out, stock markets will see additional selling. 

“On the other hand, if Trump chickens out as he has done in the past or succumbs to pressure, markets will rebound. A combined and united Europe has many options, like the much talked about ‘Sell America’, wherein they sell US treasuries, leading to sharp fall in the dollar. This will hurt Trump. Public opinion in the US is also against Trump’s Greenland annexation plan. Many unexpected developments can happen and the market is likely to react strongly to the developments, Vijayakuma said.

“Investors can watch and wait for normalcy and stability to return. Fairly valued large-cap stocks, particularly in banking, are likely to remain resilient," he added.