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Listen to this article in summarized format Sensex tumbled over 700 points to briefly trade below 72,500, while Nifty 50 plunged over 250 points to drop below 22,400. The sharp drop temporarily wiped more than Rs 10 lakh crore from the total market capitalisation of all companies listed on BSE, pulling it down below Rs 4.49 lakh crore. But the market recovered most of the intraday losses by the end of the session. Sensex closed 126 points lower at 73,124 while Nifty 50 closed 88 points lower at 22,600 on Friday. Broader markets crashed sharply, with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 falling up to 3%. Overall, the market recorded losses during the week, snapping a two-week gaining streak. Tata Steel and Adani Ports shares tumbled more than 3% each to lead Sensex losses, while Trent, Tech Mahindra, BEL, IndiGo, Bajaj Finserv and Kotak Mahindra Bank fell around 2% each. Bucking the trend, Eternal shares jumped 4% while L&T, Reliance Industries and TCS fell more than 1% each. Among sectors, Nifty Metal and Nifty Consumer Durables dropped around 3% each, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty, among others, were down over 2%. The overall market breadth strongly favoured the bears, with NSE seeing 3,011 declines against 624 advances, while 89 stocks remained unchanged. Here are the key factors pushing the market down today. 1) Oil prices Oil prices jumped to $114 per barrel as Houthi attacks on top exporter Saudi Arabia raised concerns over further disruptions to energy supplies. Saudi Aramco ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran, on the Gulf near Bahrain, as fighting intensified between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen-based Houthis. Clashes between the Iran-aligned Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government have continued as the group advanced towards Bab el-Mandeb, a shipping chokepoint at the entrance to the Red Sea. Also read: Catch all the stock market action live here The New York Times reported that the US and Israeli militaries have drawn up specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections, citing US officials and others briefed on the discussions. The boiling oil prices following brief consolidation is spooking investors on Dalal Street. 2) FII selling resumes Foreign investors remained net sellers of Indian equities on Thursday, net selling shares worth nearly Rs 3,459 crore. This comes after FIIs net bought Rs 1,407 crore Indian equities on Wednesday, before selling more than double that amount in the next day. FIIs have remained net sellers of Indian equities in 11 out of 14 sessions in October so far. Overall, the selloff intensified since last month, following a brief trend reversal. 3) Broader markets bleed A noticeable trend in the stock market on Friday was the significant underperformance of the broader markets in comparison to the large-cap Sensex and Nifty. While Sensex and Nifty have dropped up to 1%, Nifty Smallcap 100 index plunged 4% while Nifty Midcap 100 index crashed 3%. “The sharp correction in the broader market, particularly in small-caps, might continue since their valuations, driven up by liquidity rather than fundamentals, are hard to justify. Fairly-valued large-caps, particularly those which are growing well, present value buying opportunities for patient investors,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. 4) Fed rate hike expectations Metals, realty and other rate sensitive sectors led losses today in the market amid rising expectations of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. Soaring oil prices reinforced expectations that the Fed will keep interest rates elevated for longer. Also read: Rs 9,000 cr Gone! Why Swiggy investors are losing patience with Instamart Investors are now closely eyeing Fed's October 27-28 policy meeting and next week's Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, the central bank's preferred measure of inflation as it targets a 2% rate. Traders largely expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged next week, while the probability of a rate hike in December remains at 80%. Can Dalal Street rebound? Brent crude spiking to $114 is a major negative for the economy and markets, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments. However, there are strong positives that can counter this negative, he said. “The sharp decline in the US 10-year yield to 4.96 % and the appreciation in the rupee to 94.70 to the dollar are positives that can restrain FII selling significantly. More importantly, more than Rs 3 lakh of the IPO money will come back into the system after the allotment is completed by next Monday. This potential liquidity surge can lift the market next week. The market can move higher anticipating this in advance,” the analyst said. It is important to understand that the rally, if it happens, will be led by the large-caps which are signalling resilience, Vijayakumar added. Technical view on Nifty For Nifty today, holding the gap-up and sustaining 22,800 resistance may ignite a short-covering rally to 23,000, said Hemang Gor, Senior Research Analyst- Derivatives and Technical Research, Axis Direct. He sees the benchmark index finding critical support at 22,500. Notably, Nifty has comfortably fallen past this critical support level, intensifying the selloff. Disclaimer: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2025, Share Market on Budget 2025 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Subscribe to ET Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2025, Share Market on Budget 2025 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Subscribe to ET Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price
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