Indian benchmark indices witnessed their sharpest single-day decline in over three months, with Nifty declining 516.65 points, or 2.12%, marking its biggest fall in three months. The sharp selloff intensified after US President Donald Trump declared the interim agreement with Iran 'over' but stated he would allow talks to continue, raising concerns that the wider conflict in the Middle East could resume. Speaking at the start of a NATO summit in Istanbul, Trump described Iran as "evil, sick people" and "dirty players," accusing Tehran of violating the ceasefire by targeting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. India VIX surged to 26.03%, jumping to 14.68 level, reflecting heightened investor anxiety as the market decline wiped out nearly ₹9 lakh crore in investor wealth. The selloff came while GIFT Nifty traded lower by 173 points at 24,210.50, signaling a negative start for Wednesday's session. Commenting on Nifty technical outlook, experts said that the 24,000 region is now expected to act as the immediate resistance zone, followed by the 24,200 level. "A sustained move above these levels will be required to improve the near-term technical structure," a market expert stated. "On the downside, the 23,800 zone remains a crucial support level. A decisive break below this region could intensify selling pressure and drag the index towards the 23,600–23,500 zone."
Banking shares emerged as the biggest drag on benchmark indices, with Nifty Bank index declining 2.51%, closing 2.51% lower at 56,742.60 level. According to exchange data, Union Bank of India, IDFC First Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank emerged as the top laggards in the banking sector. The broad-based selloff came as investors assessed fresh developments in the conflict involving the United States and Iran, raising concerns over the global risk environment. HDFC Bank alone shaved 66.38 points off the benchmark, followed by ICICI Bank at 55.64 points, Reliance Industries at 50.30 points, Larsen & Toubro at 26.79 points and Bharti Airtel at 23.53 points. All Sensex constituents traded in the red, with shares of Hindustan Unilever, InterGlobe Aviation, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharat Electronics and Bharti Airtel falling 2-4% each to lead the losses. Jio Financial Services was the top loser on the Nifty 50, falling 5.02%, while InterGlobe Aviation, Maruti Suzuki, and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest decliners. The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 2.72% to 8,072.30, declining 5.94% in the five consecutive trading sessions. Bank of India declined 4.88%, Union Bank of India fell 4.1%, Bank of Maharashtra dropped 3.01%, Canara Bank declined 2.94%, Bank of Baroda fell 2.76%, Punjab & Sind Bank dropped 2.7%, Punjab National Bank declined 2.69%, Central Bank of India fell 2.65%, State Bank of India dropped 1.79% and Indian Bank declined 1.65%. Among the Nifty constituents, Jio Financial Services, InterGlobe Aviation and Shriram Finance emerged as the biggest laggards, while only four stocks in the benchmark index managed to end the session in positive territory, while the remaining constituents closed lower.
Crude oil prices in the global market surged around 7% to over $79.1 per barrel during Wednesday's trading session, following US military action and renewed sanctions on Iranian crude exports. The oil price rally intensified concerns over potential supply disruptions as US President Donald Trump carried out retaliatory strikes against Iran and reimposed sanctions restricting Tehran's global crude oil sales. According to The Hindu, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) said the interim agreement with Iran was 'over' but he would allow talks to continue, leading to the sharp rally in crude oil prices. Brent crude for September 2026 settlement rose $4.25 or 5.73% to $78.41 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures for August delivery rose 2.1% to $71.87 per barrel in Asia trading. Futures for the international benchmark Brent crude for September delivery jumped 1.9% to $75.53 per barrel. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 6.18% to USD 78.74 per barrel during the latest session. International Brent crude surged roughly 6% to trade around $78–79 per barrel, while domestic crude futures climbed over 6.5%, breaking above ₹7,000 to trade near ₹7,150. According to Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, "With the renewed U.S.-Iran tensions and the consequent spike in Brent crude to $76, the market is again back to uncertain territory. How long this would last and what would be its consequences are now in the realm of uncertainty." Brent crude prices gained 9 per cent over the past two days and were trading at $78.34, with elevated crude prices representing a structural negative for India, a heavy importer of crude oil, and threatening to widen the current account deficit, weaken the rupee and erode corporate profits.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms tracked the deep bearish trend across domestic equities, with the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroding by ₹9 trillion to ₹472 trillion. This represents a significant decline from ₹480.2 trillion on Tuesday. Market breadth remained heavily skewed toward the bears, with a total of 3,331 stocks declining on the BSE, against 971 advances and 173 counters that remained unchanged on the BSE. The broader market underperformed frontline indices significantly, with BSE 150 MidCap Index shedding 1.74% and BSE 250 SmallCap Index falling 2.00%. Sectoral sentiment was broadly negative with every sectoral index closing in the red, with PSU Banks and Chemicals bearing the sharpest losses, each falling around 2.5%. Auto and Oil & Gas indices also declined by more than 2% each, weighed down by rising input costs. The damage was broad-based as midcap and small-cap stocks fared no better — the Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.55% while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 2.24%. The only relative survivors were upstream oil producers such as ONGC and Oil India, which gained on expectations of stronger earnings as crude prices rose. Out of the 50 stocks listed under the benchmark NIFTY50 index, only 4 closed in the positive territory, while the remaining 46 stocks ended in the red after the trading session on Wednesday. According to provisional exchange data, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth ₹1,963 crore, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers of ₹790 crore.
Technical analysts have identified critical support and resistance levels for the upcoming trading sessions. Sudeep Shah, head of technical and derivatives research at SBI Securities, places the immediate support for the NSE Nifty 50 at 23,780-23,750 levels, stating that "any sustainable move below this zone could result in Nifty extending its weakness towards 23,600, followed by 23,450 in the short term." A long bear candle was formed on the daily chart, that has surpassed the last five days' up move in one session, which indicates a faster downside retracement, as per Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst at HDFC Securities. He identified immediate resistance at 24,100 and noted that "the short-term trend of Nifty has turned down sharply with medium to long term trend remains positive." For Bank Nifty, the immediate support is placed in the 56,300-56,200 zone, with any sustainable move below this zone potentially leading to weakness towards 55,800, followed by 55,400 in the short term. GIFT Nifty futures traded at an uptick of 0.44% at 23,984 as 10:40 p.m., indicating a cautious start for Thursday's session. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, explained that "Sentiment on the domestic bourses turned decisively negative this session, wiping out the recent gains as renewed flare-ups in West Asia sent crude oil prices climbing, inflationary worries resurfaced as well as pushing bond yields higher both at home and in the US. Volatility remained elevated, with a sharp spike in India VIX as every sector traded in the red, reflecting a macro-driven flight from risk compounded by pre-earnings anxiety over muted Q1 forecasts." Looking ahead, Nair indicated that "the market's direction will largely be determined by the outcome of the Fed's July policy meeting, the impact of the expiration of the current U.S. reciprocal tariff truce, and the evolution of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, whether through escalation or resolution."
