SENSEX plunges over 600 points, NIFTY50 tests 24,400; here are key reasons behind Friday's fall

The Indian equity benchmarks resumed their downward journey on Friday after a day's pause in the previous session after US President Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out advancing trade negotiations with India after Washington slapped steep tariffs on Indian goods, saying discussions would not move forward until the issue is resolved.

The SENSEX fell as much as 632 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,403 dragged down by index heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

As of 12:05 pm, the SENSEX was down 604 points at 80,026 and NIFTY50 index dropped 183 points to 24,414.

Trump tariff impact

Asked whether he expected “increased trade negotiations” after announcing 50% tariffs on India, Trump replied, “No, not until we get it resolved.”

The comments came a day after the US administration issued an executive order titled “Addressing Threats to the US by the Government of the Russian Federation”, imposing an additional 25% ad valorem duty on most Indian goods.

This new levy is in addition to a 25% reciprocal tariff that took effect on August 7, bringing the total duty to 50%, the highest level applied to any US trading partner alongside Brazil.

Trump has accused New Delhi of buying large quantities of discounted Russian crude and reselling much of it on the global market for “big profits,” alleging that the practice indirectly finances Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine,” the US President wrote on social media last week.

Sectoral landscape

Selling pressure was visible across board as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading dragged down by NIFTY Metal index's 1.21% fall. Realty, Bank, Financial Services, IT, Pharma, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Consumer Durables and Auto indices also fell between 0.5%-1%.

Broader markets were also facing the heat of selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index dropped 1% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index declined 0.60%.

The RBI's approval came after AU Small Finance Bank fulfilled RBI's minimum paid-up capital/net worth requirement as applicable to become a universal bank. The bank showcased satisfactory track record of performance as aa SFB for a minimum period of five years and also fulfilled RBI’s due diligence exercise.

LIC shares surged nearly 5% after the firm reported a 5% rise in net profit in the first quarter and exuded confidence of a double-digit growth in the bottom line in the current financial year.

The stock climbed 4.69% to ₹927 on the BSE.

NIFTY50 top gainers and losers

As many as 6.7 crore shares are said to have changed hands in the said transaction. However, the official parties to the transaction are not currently known.

Promoters owned a 51.25% stake in Bharti Airtel as of June 30, while Indian Continent Investment held a 2.47% stake in the company, and Bharti Telecom owned 40.47%.

Adani Enterprises, Shriram Finance, IndusInd Bank, Grasim Industries, Axis Bank, Jio Financial Services, Reliance Industries and Adani Ports also fell between 1.2%-3%.

On the flipside, Titan was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 1.35% after it reported net profit of ₹1,091 crore in the first quarter of current financial year (Q1FY26), marking an upside of 53% from ₹715 crore in the same period last year.

Titan's revenue from operations advanced 25% annually to ₹16,523 crore in April-June period from ₹13,266 crore in the year-ago period.

The company reported strong operational performance as its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 47% annually to ₹1,830 crore and its operating profit margin expanded by 170 basis points to 11.08%.

NTPC, HDFC Life, Tech Mahindra, ITC, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Auto were also among the losers.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,024 shares were declining while 1,697 were advancing on the BSE.