Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty witnessed a sharp sell-off on Friday, with the Sensex plunging 1,092 points and the Nifty slipping below the 23,550 mark, amid heavy profit booking in financial, oil & gas and metal stocks following concerns over a below-normal monsoon forecast.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 1,092.06 points, or 1.44 per cent, to close at 74,775.74. The benchmark index had opened on a positive note and traded within a narrow range for most of the day. However, intense selling pressure emerged during the final hour of trade, dragging the index sharply lower.
During the pre-close session, the Sensex fell as much as 1,278.69 points, or 1.68 per cent, to touch an intraday low of 74,589.11, mainly due to profit booking in heavyweight stocks such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Finance.
The broader NSE Nifty also extended losses for the third straight session, tumbling 359.40 points, or 1.50 per cent, to settle at 23,547.75. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, Power Grid, InterGlobe Aviation, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance emerged as the biggest laggards during the session.
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On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys managed to end in the green and provided limited support to the market. Market experts attributed the sharp volatility during the final trading hour largely to institutional selling and portfolio adjustments linked to the MSCI May 2026 index rebalancing.
“Markets witnessed a sharp bout of volatility in the final hour of trade on Friday, with benchmark indices erasing most of their intraday gains amid heavy institutional selling,” said Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President (Research), Religare Broking Ltd.
He said the sudden rise in volatility was mainly due to passive institutional flows triggered by the MSCI rebalancing exercise during the closing session. Weakness in heavyweight counters such as Reliance Industries and ITC, along with sustained pressure in banking majors like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, further intensified the market decline.
Investor sentiment also turned cautious after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that the June-September southwest monsoon rainfall over the country is expected to remain at 90 per cent of the long-period average (LPA), with a model error margin of 4 per cent.
Meanwhile, sectors related to information technology and telecommunications managed to end with gains. Overall market breadth remained negative, with 2,599 stocks declining on the BSE, while 1,670 stocks advanced and 194 remained unchanged. On a weekly basis, the Sensex declined 639.61 points, or 0.84 per cent, while the Nifty lost 171.55 points, or 0.72 per cent.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended higher, while China’s Shanghai SSE Composite index closed lower. European markets were trading in positive territory, while US markets had ended higher on Thursday.
Domestic stock exchanges had remained closed on Thursday on account of Eid-ul-Azha. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,042.70 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.
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