The Nifty opened at 22,599.05 points and closed at 22,231.8 points, marking the sixth time in 2026 that the index hit its day's high at market open. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, this represents the highest frequency of such open-high occurrences since 2023, when the market achieved this milestone six times. In comparison, 2025 saw five instances of high-open levels, while 2024 recorded only three such occurrences.
The benchmark Nifty fell 1.6% to close at 22,231.8 points, marking the lowest level in over 13 months. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, this represents the second consecutive day of decline, erasing initial gains made in the first two sessions of the week. Of the 2,872 stocks that traded on the National Stock Exchange, 2,362 declined while 450 advanced, indicating considerable breadth of weak market sentiment. The broader Nifty 500 closed at 21,616.15 points, down 2.0%.
All 21 sectoral Nifty indices were impacted by the market decline. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal declined by over 3%, while Nifty IT experienced a moderate decline of 0.08%. The broad-based selling pressure across sectors reflects the market's negative sentiment following recent developments. Commercial Services & Supplies emerged as the worst-performing sector with a 3.6% decline, while Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 also closed lower following the benchmark index.
Foreign Portfolio Investors continued their selling streak, dumping ₹6,155.75 crore worth of stocks on the day. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, this represents the third consecutive year of foreign equity sales in Indian markets. The large capital outflow contributed to domestic currency weakness, with the rupee-dollar pair trading at ₹96.88, making the dollar expensive for the second consecutive day. The persistent FII outflows were a key factor dragging down Indian indices amid rising oil prices.
Market volatility increased significantly, with the India VIX index rising 10.1% to 15.3 points from the previous day's close of 13.8 points. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, this elevated volatility reflects heightened uncertainty in the market. The BSE Sensex closed at 71,593.24 points, down 1.4%, while 16 stocks in BSE 500 were trading on high volumes. Notable gainers included Alok Industries Ltd. (+9.5%), LIC Housing Finance Ltd. (+4.2%), and IFCI Ltd. (+3.2%), while major losers were One97 Communications Ltd. (-5.2%), GMR Airports Ltd. (-3.8%), and Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. (-3.5%).
