The Indian stock market witnessed significant selling pressure on Thursday, 23 April, with Sensex declining by 640 points (0.8%) to trade at 77,870.51 and Nifty 50 falling 180 points (0.73%) to trade at 24,192.20 as of 9:18 AM. This marks the third consecutive session of decline, with headline indices having crashed by almost 1,600 points, or 2%, over just two sessions. The ongoing conflict between the US and Iran continues to impact global markets, with no clarity on how the situation may unfold as the ceasefire deadline expired on Wednesday. Gift Nifty was down by 125 points to trade at 24,183.50, while Dow futures were trading lower by 0.71% and Japan's NIKKEI was down by 1.17%. As per Kotak Securities, most global markets reacted cautiously to the ongoing geopolitical tensions, with crude oil prices continuing to rise and the Indian National Rupee (INR) opening lower by 0.2% at 94.0050 per US dollar.
According to Mint, Vodafone Idea, Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JP Power), Reliance Power, Suzlon Energy, Ola Electric Mobility, Billionbrains Garage Ventures (Groww), and YES Bank were among the most traded stocks on the NSE on Thursday. Other notable stocks included Jio Financial Services, Adani Power, Motisons Jewellers, Piramal Pharma, IRM Energy, RattanIndia Power, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Delta Corp, Tata Gold Exchange Traded Fund, Rolex Rings, and Union Bank of India. Latest trading data shows Vodafone Idea at ₹9.59 with 2.5% gains, JP Power at ₹19.98 with -27.41% decline, and Suzlon Energy at ₹54.18 with 18.5% surge. As per StockEdge, JP Power is trading at a P/E ratio of 102.29, significantly above its industry average of 22.25, indicating premium valuation in the industrial gases and fuels sector.
As reported by Mint, Vodafone Idea saw over 21 crore shares change hands as the stock declined by half a per cent, looking set to extend losses for the second consecutive session. However, on a monthly scale, the stock has gained 12% so far in April after falling for the last two months. Latest trading data shows the stock at ₹9.59 with 2.5% gains, indicating continued investor interest despite recent session-to-session volatility.
According to Mint, Jaiprakash Power Ventures saw more than 10 crore shares change hands, while the stock declined more than 1% during the session. In an exchange filing on 22 April, Jaiprakash Associates, the promoters of Jaiprakash Power Ventures, declared that it had not made any encumbrance over shareholding during the financial year 2026 other than those already declared. Latest trading data shows the stock at ₹19.98 with -27.41% decline, reflecting continued market uncertainty around the company's financial position. As per StockEdge, JP Power's P/E ratio of 102.29 is well above the industry average of 22.25, suggesting investors are willing to pay a premium for the stock's growth prospects.
According to Kotak Securities, most sectoral indices were trading in the red, with Nifty Auto falling as much as 1.10% and Bank Nifty down by around 0.82% to trade at 56,666.90. The Fin Nifty was also down by around 0.91% to trade at 26,380.25. However, Nifty Pharma was the only index in the green, up by 0.62%. Market breadth showed approximately 1,193 shares opened in the green on Thursday, whereas 1,095 shares opened in the red, with around 162 shares unchanged. The top gainers on Nifty included Dr Reddys Labs, ONGC, Cipla, Bharat Electronics, and Jio Financial Services, while the top losers were Interglobe Aviation, Ultratech Cement, SBI Life Insurance, Asian Paints, and Mahindra & Mahindra.
