Last Updated on January 20, 2026 10:29 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
AMN / BIZ DESK
Indian equity benchmarks suffered their sharpest single-day fall in over eight months on Tuesday, as escalating global trade tensions and weak corporate earnings sparked heavy selling across the board. The Nifty50 plunged 353 points, or 1.38 per cent, to close at 25,232.50 — its lowest level since October 14, 2025. The Sensex slumped 1,065.71 points, or 1.28 per cent, to settle at 82,180.47.
The selloff intensified after the US administration issued a fresh “Greenland Tariff” ultimatum, threatening to impose 10–25 per cent duties on European nations. Market sentiment was further dampened by disappointing earnings, particularly from the IT sector, and a weakening rupee.
“The market is facing a perfect storm of global geopolitical risks and domestic fundamental weakness,” said Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart. He added that rising uncertainty and rupee depreciation have prompted investors to pull money out of emerging markets like India and move towards safe-haven assets such as gold and US Treasury bonds.
According to Nandish Shah, Deputy Vice President at HDFC Securities, the Nifty’s fall marked its steepest single-session decline since April 7, 2025. “With this drop, the index has corrected over 4 per cent in just 10 trading sessions,” he said.
Only three Nifty stocks — Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, HDFC Bank and Tata Consumer Products — managed to close in positive territory. Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finance and Jio Financial Services were among the worst hit, falling between 3.7 and 4 per cent.
The broader market bore the brunt of the selling pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 tumbled 2.62 per cent to a three-month low, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 crashed 2.85 per cent to its lowest level in eight months. Market breadth remained extremely weak for the eighth consecutive session, with 3,590 stocks declining against just 707 advances on the BSE. As many as 713 stocks touched fresh 52-week lows.
The Indian rupee extended its losing streak, slipping 6 paise to close at 90.97 against the US dollar.
Analysts cautioned that volatility is likely to persist until there is clarity on the US–Europe tariff standoff. Any meaningful recovery, they said, will depend largely on resilience in banking and IT stocks.
Sectoral Performance: All Indices End in Red
- Nifty Realty: Worst performer, plunging nearly 5%
- Auto, IT, Media, Metal, PSU Bank, Pharma, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables: Down 1.5–2.5%
- Nifty Next 50: Fell 2.30%
- Nifty Financial Services: Declined 1.16%
- Nifty Bank: Lost 0.81%
Commenting on the continued weakness in smaller stocks, N ArunaGiri, CEO of TrustLine Holdings, said small caps have been in a one-way decline since early November. “At the index level, small caps are down over 11.5 per cent, while many individual stocks have corrected 40–50 per cent. This is not a buy-on-dips market but one that rewards a selective, stock-specific approach,” he said.
https://biznama.com/markets-sink-to-8-month-lows-as-global-fears