Sensex settles 1,000 pts lower, Nifty ends below 25,500: Weak global cues among key factors behind market decline

Stock market today news: Sensex, Nifty see profit booking in trade. 

• Sensex and Nifty fell over 1 percent amid IT stock sell-off
• IT index dropped 5 percent on AI disruption fears
• All 16 major sectors declined; market volatility increased

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The domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled sharply lower by more than 1 percent on Friday following a highly volatile session, weighed down by weak global cues ahead of the upcoming US inflation data.

Renewed AI-driven disruption fears weighed on risk appetite, with markets worrying that Indian IT firms dependent on the labour arbitrage model may face tougher competitive pressure than their Nasdaq peers, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.

This cautious tone extended across the broader market, pulling all major indices into negative territory, with most sectors closing in the red.

Metal stocks saw profit-booking amid a stronger dollar index, as reports of Russia’s return to the US-dollar settlement system heightened expectations of potential sanctions relief and raised concerns over weaker realisations for metal companies. Fears of a slowdown in IT hiring, hurting housing demand in major cities across India, dented sentiment in the realty sector.

In a volatile session, the Sensex tumbled 1,048.16 points, or 1.25 percent, to close at 82,626.76. During the day, the benchmark tanked 1,140.37 points, or 1.36 percent, to hit an intraday low of 82,534.55.

The Nifty plunged 336.10 points, or 1.3 percent, to settle at 25,471.10. In the intraday trade, it slumped 362.9 points, or 1.4 percent, to hit a low of 25,444.30.

The selloff extended to broader markets as well, with the Nifty smallcap100 index and the Nifty midcap100 falling 1.79 percent and 1.71 percent, respectively.

Infosys, Hindalco Industries and ETERNAL were among the key laggards in the Nifty50 pack, declining up to 4 percent, while Bajaj Finance and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise gained up to 1 percent. Market breadth was negative as about 948 shares advanced, 2561 shares declined and 136 shares unchanged.

Key factors behind market decline

1) IT sell-off: The IT index fell for the third straight session, declining about 5 percent intraday on fears of AI-driven automation impacting the sector’s labour-intensive business model. The sectoral index had slipped 5.5 percent on February 12. However, it recovered sharply from the day's low to settle at 1.4 percent lower.

"Sentiment gains from the US-India trade deal have faded as renewed AI-driven disruption fears weigh on risk appetite," Nair added.

Heavyweights Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra were among the major laggards.

The IT index is down 11.4 percent this week and has lost 16.6 percent so far in 2026, surpassing the 12.6 percent drop in the whole of last year.

2) Weak global cues: In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and South Korea's Kospi ended in the negative territory.

European markets are trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals. The US equities market ended up to 2 percent lower on Thursday.

"Wall Street indices fell sharply on Thursday, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq slumping 2 percent, as investors intensified their sell-off of tech shares and exited transport stocks amid worries about artificial intelligence disruption," Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities, said.

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3) Rise in volatility: The India VIX, the market’s fear gauge, rose more than 15 percent to 13.50 level, indicating higher uncertainty and risk perception among investors, which typically leads to cautious trading and selling pressure.

"Markets have fallen into a turbulent phase which will cause some panic among investors even while offering opportunities," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

He added the sell-off in IT stocks, a major profit pool of India Inc, was weighing on the market and the full impact of the recent AI-related shock on the sector was yet to be ascertained.

4) Rupee weakens: The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day 3 paise lower at 90.64 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a negative trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said rupee traded in a narrow range with a weakening bias as a firm dollar limited the upside for emerging market currencies including the rupee.

5) Crude rises: Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.32 percent to USD 67.81 per barrel. Higher crude prices are seen as negative for India, which is a major importer of oil, as they can widen the trade deficit and add to inflationary pressures.

Technical outlook

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said "the Nifty opened gap-down, reflecting early weakness in IT stocks following negative cues from the US markets. At the end, the Nifty ended the session significantly lower. India VIX also moved back above its 200DMA, indicating rising fear among the market participants.

From a technical standpoint, the setup has turned relatively cautious, with the index slipping below its 20DMA for the first time in the past few sessions. Additionally, it has breached the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the prior upmove from 24,571 to 26,341.

With the index closing below the key support level of 25,500, the near-term bias appears weak, and there is potential for a decline toward the 25,000 mark in the short term. On the upside, immediate resistance is seen around 25,800."

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