Markets opened sharply lower on Friday morning, with both benchmark indices falling nearly half a per cent in early trade as renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz rattled global sentiment and pushed crude oil back above $101 per barrel.
The , which had closed at 77,844.52 on Thursday, opened at 77,631.94 and slipped further to 77,472.60, down 371.92 points or 0.48 per cent as of 9.20 am. The , which ended the previous session at 24,326.65 and opened at 24,233.65, was trading at 24,210.80, lower by 115.85 points or 0.48 per cent.
The sell-off came despite Thursday’s session ending nearly flat — the Nifty had slipped just 4.30 points, or 0.02 per cent, while the Sensex fell 114 points, or 0.15 per cent — suggesting that geopolitical developments overnight had swiftly eroded the previous session’s cautious stability.
Brent crude futures were trading at $101.13 per barrel, up 1.07 per cent, while WTI crude stood at $95.59, up 0.82 per cent. On the domestic Multi Commodity Exchange, May crude oil futures were at ₹9,032, down 0.36 per cent from the previous close of ₹9,065.
“The ongoing US–Iran conflict remains a significant overhang for global markets, fuelling headline-driven volatility and keeping investor sentiment fragile,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money. “Any meaningful progress in diplomatic negotiations or a further easing in oil prices could trigger a relief rally, while any escalation in geopolitical tensions may amplify downside risks.”
Top gainers and losers
Among Nifty 50 top gainers in early trade, Tata Consumer Products rose 1.34 per cent to ₹1,167.10, Asian Paints gained 1.34 per cent to ₹2,564.50, Tech Mahindra advanced 1.13 per cent to ₹1,464.60, Wipro added 0.65 per cent to ₹198.64, and Infosys edged up 0.60 per cent to ₹1,169.70 — a reversal from the previous session’s IT sector weakness.
On the losing side, Coal India was the top decliner, falling 1.75 per cent to ₹458.50. Mahindra & Mahindra dropped 1.30 per cent to ₹3,327, Axis Bank slipped 1.18 per cent to ₹1,277.40, HDFC Bank fell 1.16 per cent to ₹786.80, and Tata Motors (TMPV) was down 1.10 per cent to ₹355.30.
“FIIs are net sellers, particularly in banking and IT heavyweights, and this dichotomy — broader market outperformance versus Nifty underperformance — will continue so long as FPIs remain net sellers,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
Fund flow data underlined this trend. Foreign institutional investors sold a net ₹340.89 crore on Thursday on a cash basis, taking their month-to-date outflows to ₹6,961.75 crore and year-to-date net selling to ₹2,47,713.62 crore. Domestic institutional investors, however, bought ₹441.07 crore on Thursday, with YTD inflows standing at a robust ₹3,16,312.81 crore.
On the sectoral front, Thursday’s session had seen Nifty Auto lead gains at 1.93 per cent, followed by Nifty Energy at 0.82 per cent and Nifty Realty at 0.63 per cent. Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG ended as the day’s worst performers, declining 0.77 per cent and 0.76 per cent respectively.
Technicals
Technically, analysts said 24,200 was now the critical support level. “Falling below this could quickly push the index toward 24,000. Bulls need a daily close above 24,400 to regain upward momentum,” said Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research at Axis Direct.
The Nifty Put-Call Ratio stood at 1.08, easing from 1.19 in the previous session. India VIX declined 0.34 per cent to 16.62, marking its fourth consecutive session of decline, though analysts cautioned this did not reflect reduced geopolitical risk.
The key market event for Friday was the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls data for April, which analysts said could further influence global risk sentiment and the direction of the dollar and bond yields through the day.