Sensex nosedives 984 pts, Nifty slips to 24,730; here’s what fuelled sell-off in Indian equities

Snapping two sessions gaining streak, Indian equities witnessed sharp sell-off on Tuesday, with the benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty falling over 1% as investors booked profit at higher levels. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies declined by ₹2.57 lakh crore to ₹442.90 lakh crore amid broad-based selling across indices.

At 2:25 PM, the BSE Sensex was trading 984 points, or 1.2% lower, at 81,192, and the Nifty50 was down 270 points, or 1.08%, at 24,731. The broader market showed resilience, with BSE midcap and smallcap indices trading flat near baseline.

The sell-off in the domestic equity market was triggered by subdued cues from Asian peers and persistent concerns about United States’ fiscal woes after sovereign rating downgrade by Moody’s and fresh sell-off by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Adding to it, mixed corporate earnings, and delays in finalising the India-U.S. trade agreement added to the uncertainty, prompting profit-booking and a guarded stance among market participants.

On the BSE Sensex pack, barring IndusInd Bank , Asian Paints , and Sun Pharma , all other 27 constituents were in red. The top five losers were UltraTech Cement , ITC , Mahindra & Mahindra , Axis Bank , and HCL Tech , falling in the range of 1.7-2.5%.

On the sectoral front, mixed trends were seen, with Nifty Auto, IT, Financial Services, Oil & Gas, and FMCG floating in negative terrain. On the other hand, Nifty Energy, Media, Metal, Pharma, Realty, and Consumer Durables were trading higher with marginal gains.

On the global front, Wall Street remained closed on Monday on account of the solemn occasion of Memorial Day 2025. In Asian markets, all major markets, barring Hong Kong, was in red in the absence of any major trigger and persistent uncertainty about U.S.-China trade talks. Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.25% and 0.15%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.1%.

Technically, the Nifty appears to have regained its momentum, decisively breaking out from its consolidation zone of 24,500-25,000, said Nandish Shah, Senior Derivative & Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities. “Immediate resistance is now seen at 25,207, a level derived from the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement of the entire fall from 26,277 to 21,743. On the downside, 24,800 could offer immediate support for the Nifty.”

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