Indian stock markets opened lower on Thursday, weighed down by a sharp sell-off in information technology (IT) stocks. The decline followed weak March quarter earnings announced post-market hours on Wednesday by India’s fourth-largest IT company, triggering negative sentiment across the sector.
The SENSEX dropped as much as 368 points to 76,692.47, while the NIFTY50 slipped 125.20 points to 23,313, touching an intraday low of 23,307 in early trade.
Despite the weakness in Indian markets, most Asian indices were trading in the green. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.57%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.21%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.66%, and South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.69%.
Overnight, US markets saw sharp declines. Nvidia warned of steep costs due to fresh US restrictions on chip exports to China, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated a slowdown in US economic growth. As a result, the Dow Jones fell 1.73%, the S&P500 declined 2.24%, and the Nasdaq dropped 3.07%.
Back home, the NIFTY IT index plunged over 2%, dragging broader market sentiment. Other sectoral indices like NIFTY Auto, FMCG, Metal, Media, Private Bank, Consumer Durables, and Oil & Gas also traded with a negative bias. However, select pharma and realty stocks showed signs of buying interest.
Wipro was the top loser in the NIFTY50 index, falling nearly 6% to ₹233 after giving a weak revenue forecast for Q1 FY26. Other notable losers included HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Infosys, Coal India, and Larsen & Toubro, with declines ranging from 1.5% to 3%.
On the gainers’ side, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Cipla, and Dr. Reddy’s Labs provided some support to the benchmarks.
Despite the fall, the overall market breadth remained positive on the BSE, with 1,701 stocks advancing against 1,290 declining.
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