Mumbai— Indian stock markets ended lower on Tuesday as rising geopolitical tensions triggered widespread selling across sectors, dampening investor confidence.
The benchmark Sensex fell 155.77 points, or 0.19%, to close at 80,641.07, while the broader Nifty declined 81.55 points, or 0.33%, settling at 24,379.60.
Losses were led by major stocks including Eternal (formerly Zomato), State Bank of India (SBI), Tata Motors, and NTPC, which dropped between 1.94% and 3.15%.
However, a few counters managed to hold their ground. Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, and Nestle India posted gains, with Bharti Airtel rising 1.66%.
The broader market saw steeper declines. The Nifty Midcap100 index dropped 2.27%, while the Nifty Smallcap100 slid 2.50%, indicating deeper pain beyond large-cap names.
Barring Nifty Auto, all sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red, with PSU banks suffering the most. The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.18% to 54,271.40, with 11 of its 12 constituents closing lower. Bank of Baroda plunged 10.91%, followed by Union Bank of India and Bank of India, down 6.19% and 6.33%, respectively.
The real estate sector also bore the brunt of the sell-off. The Nifty Realty index dropped 3.58%, weighed down by a 6.36% slide in Godrej Properties and a 4.96% fall in Sobha Limited.
Market volatility edged higher as the India VIX—often called the fear index—rose 3.58% to 19, reflecting growing investor anxiety.
Analysts attributed the decline to cautious sentiment triggered by global uncertainties, with profit booking and weak cues from international markets further pressuring domestic equities. (Source: IANS)
