Stock Market Live: Sensex falls 500 pts, Nifty slips below 24,500; Airtel, Adani Ports, Tata Motors top losers

Shares of NSDL continued their gaining streak for the third straight session, rising as much as 18.5% to ₹1,331.05 on the BSE. The stock is up 66% against its IPO price of ₹800 per share.

NSDL shares debuted at ₹880 on the BSE, a premium of 10% over the initial public offering (IPO) price of ₹800 apiece, with a market cap of ₹17,600 crore. Post listing, the stock gained as much as 19% to hit an intraday high of ₹943.85 per share, in an otherwise muted broader market.

Shares of Medi Assist Healthcare Services climbed over 1% today after the company reported a strong set of numbers for the June quarter of financial year 2026 (Q1FY26). The third-party administration services to insurance firms posted a 19.1% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at ₹22.4 crore for the first quarter that ended June 30, 2025. Revenue from operations jumped 13.6% to ₹190.5 crore against ₹167.7 crore in Q1FY25.

Shares of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) slipped nearly 2% in early trade on Friday even after the country’s oldest exchange reported robust earnings in June quarter of the current fiscal. The weakness in BSE shares was largely due to a sell-off in benchmark indices, with the Sensex falling as much as 538 points to 80,085, while the NSE Nifty slumped 164 points to 24,431 level in the first two hours of trade so far.

Snapping two sessions gaining streak, BSE shares declined as much as 2.45% to ₹2,382.30 on the NSE, while its market capitalisation slipped to ₹97,676 crore. The counter witnessed strong volume as nearly 40 lakh shares changed hand over the counter in less than two hours of trading.

Shares of Bharti Airtel declined nearly 3% in early trade on Friday amid reports that its promoter entity, Indian Continent Investment, is expected to offload a 0.8% equity stake in the company through a block deal today.

Reacting to the news, Bharti Airtel shares dropped as much as 2.9% to ₹1,868.70 on the BSE, while its market capitalisation slipped to ₹10.68 lakh crore. The counter witnessed strong volume, with 1.21 crore shares changing hands compared to the two-week average of 3.24 lakh shares.

"The market continues to be technically and fundamentally weak. Continuous lower lows on the Nifty is technically a weak sign," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

From the fundamental perspective,  there are no indications yet of a sharp uptick in earnings for FY26. These weak indicators, along with the relatively high valuations in India, are triggering sustained selling by the FIIs.

FIIs have sold on all trading days of August, so far, taking their total cash market selling in August, till now, to Rs 15950 crores. Yesterday’s sharp 250 point recovery from the low level in Nifty was caused by short covering triggered by the strong buying by DIIs of Rs 10864 crores.

In the present context of negative sentiments in the market caused by the tariff skirmishes between India and the US, FIIs are likely to continue selling in the cash market. The only saving grace is the sustained DII buying which remains strong. The strong DII buying assisted by sustained flows into mutual funds can prevent a crash in the market. Investors may wait and watch for the developments on the tariff front to unfold, he said.

The BSE Sensex declined 174 points, or 0.22%, to 80,449 in opening trade, while the NSE Nifty slipped 27 points, or 0.12%, to 24,570 level.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 indices were down up to 0.2% in early trade.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday amid renewed concerns over trade tensions, as President Donald Trump's higher tariffs on imports from several countries took effect on Thursday, pushing the average U.S. import duty to its highest level in a century.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.51%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.08%. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.35% after Trump announced plans to impose tariffs of around 100% on imported chips and semiconductors.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty are set to open in red on Friday, tracking mixed cues from global peers, amid persistent concerns about steep U.S. tariff hikes on India. At 8:20, GIFT Nifty futures were down 52 points at 24,643, signaling a weak opening for the benchmark indices.

On Thursday, the Indian equity market ended higher in choppy trade, shrugging off early jitters sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of fresh tariffs on Indian imports.

The Sensex ended 79.27 points, or 0.1%, higher at 80,623, while the NSE Nifty closed up by 21.95 points, or 0.09%, at 24,596.15. Broader indices also settled in the positive territory. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed 0.33% higher, while the Nifty SmallCap rose 0.17%.