Taking Stock | Sensex closes below 76,000 mark for first time in 7 months, Nifty near 23,000

markets

India's benchmark Sensex closed below the 76,000 mark for the first time in seven months, while the Nifty index ended near 23,000, weighed down by disappointing earnings and growing uncertainty over President Trump's potential trade policies.

At the close, the Sensex fell by 1.60 percent, losing 1235 points to settle at 75838.36 -- a level last seen on 6 June 2024, while the Nifty declined by 1.37 percent, or 320.1 points, ending at 23024.65.

Sectoral indices were broadly negative, with Nifty Realty and Consumer Durables being the worst performers, both plunging over 4 percent. Nifty PSU Bank and Auto followed closely, down 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Other notable losers included Nifty Bankex and Private Bank, both down by 1.5 percent, while Nifty Pharma and Metal shed 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

As the quarterly earnings season progresses, the market is still awaiting signs of a recovery in corporate performance. Of the 51 Nifty constituents, only 10 have reported their earnings, with just three—Reliance Industries among them—exceeding estimates. Four others met expectations, while new-age tech companies like Zomato and Paytm contributed to the negative sentiment with disappointing results.

President Trump's recent threat to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico next month has raised additional concerns, although China appears to be exempt for now.

Outlook for January 22

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities

Markets were on a cautious mode in the past few sessions, but witnessed frenzied selling on Tuesday as investors now fear that Trump's inaugural speech to safeguard America's interest could hurt economic prospects of many countries, including India, going ahead. While foreign investors continue to offload domestic shares at will, any further rise in US bond yields could trigger massive selling.

Index	Prices	Change	Change%
Sensex	73,530.39	1,582.84	+2.20%
Nifty 50	22,803.60	472.20	+2.11%
Nifty Bank	51,249.10	973.75	+1.94%

Nifty 50 22,803.60 472.20 (2.11%)

Wed, Apr 01, 2026

• 1D
• 5D
• 1M
• 3M
• 6M
• 1Y
• 2Y

Biggest Gainer	Prices	Change	Change%
Interglobe Avi	4,307.40	363.90	+9.23%

Biggest Loser	Prices	Change	Change%
HDFC Life	582.75	-7.85	-1.33%

Best Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty Metal	11546.30	407.90	+3.66%

Worst Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty Pharma	22417.70	185.45	+0.83%

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

Domestic markets experienced a significant decline today, with heightened volatility, followed by Trump's announcement of trade tariffs on neighbouring countries on his inauguration day, adding uncertainty into global markets. The weak recovery in the ongoing Q3 earnings, coupled with a depreciating INR, are likely to prompt further outflows from FIIs. Mid and small-cap stocks underperformed compared to the main indices. The realty sector was hit the hardest due to weak pre-result updates, while banks suffered due to rising asset quality stress. Additionally, the expectation of an interest rate hike by BoJ is dampening market sentiment.

Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory, PL Capital - Prabhudas Lilladher

Indian stock markets erased their early gains and ended significantly lower in Tuesday’s intraday trade. The BSE Sensex dropped 1,071.98 points  while the NSE Nifty declined 299.45 points to touch 23,045.30. Large-cap stocks like Zomato, Reliance Industries, and Kotak Bank weighed heavily on the benchmark indices. Zomato was the biggest drag, contributing 170 points to the Sensex’s decline as its shares fell over 11% after reporting a 57% year-on-year drop in December quarter net profit.

Investor sentiment remained weak amid lacklustre Q3 earnings and sustained selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have sold equities worth Rs 48,023 crore as of January 20, 2025. Global market mood was further hit by US President Donald Trump's announcement of trade tariffs on neighbouring countries, adding to concerns about policy uncertainty.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities

Today, the benchmark indices corrected sharply. The Nifty ended 320 points lower, while the Sensex fell by 1,235 points. Among sectors, all the major sectoral indices were trading in the red, but the Realty index lost the most, shed over 4 percent.

Technically, after a gap-up open, the market consistently faced selling pressure at higher levels. This led to the formation of a long bearish candle on the daily charts, and the index closed below the 23,100/76,000-support zone, which is largely negative. We are of the view that, as long as the market trades below 23, 100/76,000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue.

On the downside, the market could slip as low as 22,900/75,500. Further, weakness is likely to continue, which could drag the market till 22,850/75,300. However, above 23,100/76,000, the market could bounce back, moving towards 23,250-23,300/76,400-76,500. The current market texture is volatile, and thus, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy for day traders.

Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares

The market experienced significant volatility today, with bears taking control of the trade. The Mid and Smallcap sectors saw a sharp decline, pulling the Nifty index lower, though a brief V-shaped recovery occurred. Despite this, the index struggled to sustain higher levels and experienced further selling, dropping below the psychological support of 23,000. A minor recovery was witnessed in the final hour of trading to settle the trade at 23,024.65 with a loss of 320.10 points. All sectors closed in the red, with Realty and Energy being the primary underperformers. The Mid and Smallcap indices fell more than 2%, underperforming the benchmark.

The index formed a large bearish candle, breaking its range, and indicating a stronger bearish trend. The negative momentum is expected to persist, with support seen at the 22,800 level, coinciding with long-term trendline support. Immediate resistance lies around 23,140.

Rishabh Nahar- Partner and Fund Manager at Qode Advisors

The recent rise in India VIX is nothing unusual—volatility always picks up ahead of key events like the Budget. While it’s higher than six months ago, a VIX level of 17 is still well within the normal range. For context, during the election results in June 2024, India VIX had surged to 30, a far more extreme move.

Rather than overreacting to short-term fluctuations, investors should focus on the bigger picture. Volatility is part of market cycles, and temporary spikes don’t necessarily imply a structural shift. Unless we see sustained, outsized moves, this remains standard pre-event positioning rather than a cause for alarm.