Why market is down today: Sensex tanks 800 pts, Nifty tests 24,000 | 5 reasons 

A rise in oil prices for the fourth straight session to near $95 a barrel level, a resumption of rupee depreciation against the dollar, mounting geopolitical tensions in West Asia and selective selling in a few pockets weighed heavy on Sensex and Nifty, as domestic equity benchmarks ignored a rise in European shares on Wednesday. The US President Donald Trump's tariffs roadmap for generic drugs also weighed in on market sentiment, with pharma stocks falling up to 13 per cent. 
  
Brent oil futures for September delivery hit a high of $94.76 a barrel earlier today, as the US and Iran continued exchanging missiles for the 11th day. Data showed the rupee slipped 29 paise to trade at 96.53 against the greenback.   

"The continuing US-Iran conflict  and rising Brent crude price will continue to weigh on markets despite positive news on other fronts," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. 

At 2.07 pm, Nifty was quoting at 23,977.85, down 209.85 points or 0.87 per cent. Nifty stood at 76,695.25, down 774.86 points or 1 per cent.

Vijayakumar said dips in the market will provide buying opportunities in fundamentally sound stocks. The outperformance of the broader market may continue in the near-term, he said.

At present, the Bloomberg consensus target for Nifty stands at 28,675, which hints at 19.6 per cent potential upside for the index over the next 12 months. Sensex's target at 92,854, on the other hand, suggests 21 per cent potential upside over the same period. The two indices are down 3-5 per cent in the past one year. 

"We expect fluctuations and volatility in the market as the banking sector is dragging the market, with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank among the major losers in the category," said Shiju Koothupalakkal, Senior Manager, Technical Research at PL Capital.  

InterGlobe Aviation Ltd fell 3.29 per cent to Rs 5,130.50, leading the Nifty fall. The stock contributed 178 points negatively to the 50-pack index's decline.  UltraTech Cement fell 1.4 per cent to Rs 11,925. Dr Reddy's Labs fell 2.61 per cent, followed by Infosys (2.38 per cent), State bank of India (2.36 per cent), Jio Financial (2.2 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.84 per cent). Axis Bank also slipped 1.7 per cent to Rs 1,236.70. 

Pharma stocks also fell, with stocks such as pharma giant Sun Pharma falling up to 5 per cent. 

"At this stage, we view the proposal primarily as a negotiating tool, given that implementation is deferred until August 2028, beyond the next US election cycle. Accordingly, we do not expect any near-term earnings impact, although the announcement could weigh on investor sentiment and valuation multiples," said Bharat Celly, Equity Research Analyst at Equirus Securities.