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Markets regain some ground after early plunge on India-Pakistan tensions

Volatility remained elevated with the India VIX maintaining levels near one-month highs.

Markets pared some early losses by midday trading on Friday, though they remained firmly in negative territory as investors continued to respond to escalating geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan. The BSE Sensex was trading at 79,465.19, down 869.62 points or 1.08 per cent from its previous close, while the Nifty50 stood at 24,004.15, declining 269.65 points or 1.11 per cent.

The market’s partial recovery comes after a sharp morning plunge that saw the Sensex drop nearly 1,400 points following reports that India’s air defence intercepted over 50 Pakistani missiles and downed four aircraft. By noon, markets had recouped about 500 points from their intraday lows as some bargain hunting emerged.

Volatility remained elevated with the India VIX maintaining levels near one-month highs. Market breadth was heavily skewed toward declines, with 2,865 stocks falling against just 821 advances on the BSE. Additionally, 291 stocks hit their lower circuit limits while 173 touched 52-week lows, underscoring widespread investor anxiety.

Consumer durables giant Titan emerged as the top gainer, surging 3.78 per cent to ₹3,496.80 following robust Q4 results. Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro followed closely with a 3.74 per cent gain to ₹3,448.30. Other notable gainers included Tata Motors (+3.02 per cent), Bharat Electronics Limited (+2.73 per cent), and Hero MotoCorp (+1.43 per cent).

Banking and infrastructure stocks bore the brunt of the selling pressure. ICICI Bank declined 2.89 per cent to lead the losers, followed by Power Grid (-2.63 per cent), UltraTech Cement (-2.42 per cent), Adani Ports (-2.38 per cent), and Grasim Industries (-2.33 per cent).

Sectoral indices reflected the broader market sentiment with Nifty Bank dropping 708.50 points or 1.30 per cent to 53,657.15, while Nifty Financial Services suffered a steeper decline of 1.75 per cent. The midcap segment showed relative resilience with the Nifty Midcap 100 down just 0.59 per cent.

Global cues provided little support as investors remained focused on local geopolitical developments. Foreign institutional investors’ prolonged buying streak, which had extended for 16 consecutive sessions, appeared uncertain amid the escalating regional tensions.

Market experts suggest the Nifty’s position above the psychological 24,000 mark could provide some technical support, though caution remains the prevailing sentiment as the situation at the border continues to develop ahead of the weekend.