Indian stock markets saw heavy selling on April 25, with the Sensex falling over 1,000 points and the Nifty slipping below the 24,000 mark. This sharp fall came due to rising India-Pakistan border tensions, weak banking sector performance, and profit-booking by investors.
The Sensex dropped 1,004 points or 1.25 percent to settle at 78,797.39, while the Nifty declined 338 points or 1.39 percent to close at 23,908.60. This was the second day in a row that markets closed with losses.
The session began on a high note, with the Sensex surging 329 points in the morning trade and the Nifty going up 118 points. Gains evaporated soon, though, as investors took cues from adverse developments from both the domestic and overseas fronts.
One of the primary factors for the market decline was the growing India-Pakistan geopolitical tension. A terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, last month left 26 dead, and the tension escalated after there was retaliation at the Line of Control. India was also said to suspend the Indus Water Treaty and downgrade diplomatic relations with Pakistan, scaring off investors further.
Bank stocks also pulled the indices down. The Nifty Bank index declined 1.6 percent after Axis Bank stocks plummeted sharply, declining more than 3.5 percent. This came after Axis Bank announced a negligible fall in quarterly profit. The majority of the bank stocks were in the negative, with the exception of a marginal rise in IndusInd Bank.
Except for banking sector pressure and tensions, analysts cited another cause of the decline in the form of profit-booking. The markets had rallied for some sessions in the past, and some investors decided to book profits after the recent run-up.
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Source: Moneycontrol.
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