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Indian Markets Face Steepest Weekly Decline Since September
Indian stock markets concluded Friday with a significant sell-off, marking the fifth consecutive day of losses and the worst weekly performance since September. Investor wealth evaporated by another ₹6 lakh crore on Friday alone, bringing the total market capitalization wiped out across BSE-listed companies to a staggering ₹15 lakh crore for the week.
The benchmark Nifty 50 index touched its lowest point in two months, with nearly 35 of its constituents ending the week in negative territory. Individual stocks experienced sharp downturns, with Trent registering losses as high as 10% over the past five trading days.
Heavyweights Face Significant Losses
Blue-chip companies bore the brunt of the market downturn. HDFC Bank, in particular, recorded its worst weekly fall since January 2024, shedding over ₹1 lakh crore in market capitalization. The broader market indices also succumbed to the selling pressure.
The Nifty Midcap index declined 3% for the week, a three-month low for the segment, with more than 80% of its constituents posting negative returns. Similarly, the Nifty Smallcap index also fell by 3%, with over 80 stocks in its basket ending lower.
Sectoral Indices Suffer Broad-Based Losses
Every sectoral index reported losses this week. The Nifty Energy index experienced the sharpest decline, falling 5% and marking its worst performance since February last year. The Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Auto indices saw declines ranging between 2% and 3%.
For the Metal and Realty indices, almost all constituent stocks ended the week with losses. In the Auto sector, while Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto showed resilience, other auto stocks fell between 0.4% and 5.5%.
Outlook: Awaiting Quarterly Results
The upcoming week is poised for significant market action as major companies begin reporting their quarterly earnings. Technology giants TCS and HCLTech are scheduled to announce their results on Monday, followed by the index heavyweight Reliance Industries on Friday, which could influence market direction.