Why is market down today: Top reasons behind Sensex, Nifty fall

Sensex fell nearly 600 points in early deals today with Nifty slipping 200 points amid weak global cues. Sensex lost 575 points intraday to 81,673 against the previous close of 82,248. Nifty too declined 204 points to 25,292 a day after ending flat in the previous session. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 469.35 lakh crore today. 

At 11:52 am, Sensex fell 537 pts to 81,711 and Nifty declined 188 pts to 25,308. 

As many as 68 stocks hit their 52-week highs today. On the other hand, 199 shares hit their 52-week lows on BSE in early deals.

Mid cap, small cap stocks were also trading in the red. 

The BSE midcap Index slipped 700 points to 44,246 and BSE small cap index tumbled 1050 pts to 46,825. Sectorally, Banking, auto and capital goods shares were the major losers with their BSE indices tanking 525 points, 736 pts and 392 pts, respectively.

Ironically, IT shares were among the top Sensex gainers in today's session. 

Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and TCS were the top gainers, rising up to 2.25%. IndiGo, Maruti, M&M , Bharti Airtel were the top losers on Sensex, falling up to 1.28% today.

Market breadth was negative with 1411 stocks trading higher against 2240 stocks falling on BSE. 199 shares were unchanged. 

Here's a look at key factors, which led to the market crash today. 

Weak global markets 

US stocks turned lower on Thursday. Nasdaq closed 280 points lower at 22,872 and S&P 500 fell 37 pts to 6908. Dow Jones added 17 pts to close at 49,499. Fall in US indices came a day after earnings from artificial intelligence vanguard Nvidia failed to impress investors. 

In Asia, Hang Seng fell 385 pts to 26,381 and Kospi was down 12 pts to 6296. 

Geopolitical tensions 

Tensions between US and Iran continued to haunt global markets with latest talks between the two nations in Geneva ending without any breakthrough. The development comes amid US President Donald Trump’s threats of a strike if diplomacy fails.

Technical view

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Investments said,"The repeated hammering on successive days from key upside pivots is disappointing. However, the base has held firm all these days, leading to a triangle formation, encouraging us to keep the upside hopes alive. We will continue to look for a break of 25670 to confirm strength, in order to aim for 25900. Swings on either sides of 25530 may be expected, but we will wait for a fall below 25300 to switch sides."

India VIX 

The India VIX index surged 5% to 13.68, indicating heightened volatility on Dalal Street. Often referred to as the "fear index," it gauges investor sentiment and fear, helping traders predict potential market swings.