The Indian stock market came under heavy selling pressure on October 1, with benchmark indices witnessing a sharp fall during afternoon trading. The Sensex dropped more than 950 points from the previous close and touched an intraday low of 71,527.28. The Nifty 50 also fell nearly 320 points to hit 22,301.30.
The market had opened on a weak note, but selling intensified after around 12 noon. The Sensex had closed at 72,480.29 on Wednesday and opened at 72,192.89 on Thursday. The Nifty, which had closed at 22,620.45, opened at 22,543.70.
Why did the market fall?
One of the major reasons was continued selling by foreign investors. Foreign Institutional Investors sold Indian shares worth more than ₹10,000 crore on September 30 alone. Persistent foreign outflows have remained a major pressure point for Indian equities.The Indian rupee also remained under pressure against the US dollar, while higher US Treasury yields made dollar-based assets more attractive to global investors. These factors added to the pressure on Indian stocks.
Auto stocks among major losers
Auto stocks were among the biggest losers during the session. Bajaj Auto fell sharply after weak domestic sales figures, while Mahindra & Mahindra and other auto stocks also came under selling pressure. The Nifty Auto index was down around 2.4% in morning trading.However, not every sector declined. IT stocks gained after softer-than-expected US inflation data reduced expectations of another immediate US Federal Reserve rate hike. Kotak Mahindra Bank also gained following the appointment of Anup Kumar Saha as its new CEO.
The latest fall comes as Indian markets head towards an eighth consecutive weekly decline, which would be the longest such losing streak in about 25 years.
