Indian Equities Plummet: Nifty Falls to 23,150, Sensex Drops 1,470 Points Amid Sector-Wide Decline

Indian Stock Market Plunges Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions

Market Summary

The Indian stock market experienced a broad-based selling session on March 13, with the Nifty declining below 23,150 intraday, driven by rising geopolitical tensions and higher crude oil prices. The BSE Sensex fell 1,470.50 points or 1.93 percent to 74,563.92, while the Nifty declined 488.05 points or 2.06 percent to 23,151.10.

Sectoral Performance

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Broader indices underperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap each falling 2.5 percent. The auto, PSU Bank, metal, and media sectors were among the biggest losers, down 3-4 percent.

Top Losers and Gainers

The biggest losers on the Nifty included Hindalco, L&T, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, and JSW Steel, while the top gainers were Tata Consumer, HUL, and Bharti Airtel.

Market Capitalization

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The market capitalization of BSE-listed companies declined by nearly Rs 10 lakh crore to around Rs 430.18 lakh crore from Rs 440.06 lakh crore in the previous session.

Currency Movement

The Indian rupee depreciated for the second consecutive session to hit a fresh record low of 92.47 against the US dollar, settling at 92.45.

Outlook

According to Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, the Nifty has partially filled the 203-point gap created on 15 April 2025 and has erased all the gains of FY26. The index has entered the support of the previous opening upside gap area of 15th April 2025 around 23,200-22,900 levels. However, there is no confirmation of any bottom reversal pattern forming.

Technical Analysis

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, stated that the sharp downside momentum continued in the market for the third consecutive sessions on Friday. A long bear candle has been formed on the daily chart that made a new swing low of 23,112 levels on Friday. The underlying trend of the market is sharply down, with a higher possibility of Nifty showing minor pullback from near the lows of around 22,900 by next week.