Sensex, Nifty 50 fall 1%; mid, small-caps bleed more- 10 key highlights from Indian stock market today

Indian Stock Market Takes a Tumble: A ₹6 Lakh Crore Wipeout

Thursday, June 12th, saw a dramatic selloff in the Indian stock market, mirroring a global trend fueled by escalating geopolitical tensions, lingering trade anxieties, and growing concerns about slowing global economic growth. The market experienced a significant downturn, leaving investors reeling.

• Sensex Plunge: The Sensex plummeted 823 points (1%), closing at 81,691.98.
• Nifty 50 Slump: The Nifty 50 index suffered a 253-point drop (1.01%), settling at 24,888.20.
• Mid and Small Cap Losses: Midcap and Smallcap indices experienced even steeper declines, falling 1.52% and 1.38% respectively.
• Massive Market Capitalization Loss: The sharp selloff resulted in a staggering ₹6 lakh crore loss in a single trading session, reducing the cumulative market capitalization of BSE-listed firms to approximately ₹449.6 lakh crore.

Decoding the Downturn: Key Highlights

1. The Fall Explained: Rising Middle East tensions, persistent trade war worries, a deteriorating global economic outlook, overvalued domestic markets, and a lack of positive catalysts all contributed to investors pulling back after recent gains. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, noted a "consolidation…extending to large-cap stocks," citing valuation concerns and rising oil prices as key drivers of investor risk aversion. The looming threat of US unilateral tariff hikes further added to the uncertainty.
2. Nifty 50's Green Shoots: Only seven Nifty 50 stocks managed to finish in positive territory: Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation.
3. Top Nifty 50 Losers: Tata Motors, Titan Company, and Trent led the pack of losers, each experiencing declines exceeding 2.6%.
4. Sectoral Slump: Significant losses were observed across various sectors, with Nifty Realty, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, Auto, and Metal indices all falling by up to 2%. Banking indices also suffered, with Nifty Bank, PSU Bank, and Private Bank indices declining by 0.67%, 1.27%, and 0.79% respectively.
5. High-Volume Stocks: GTL Infrastructure, Vodafone Idea, and RattanIndia Power recorded the highest trading volumes on the NSE.
6. Double-Digit Gainers: Despite the overall downturn, several stocks bucked the trend, with Karma Energy, Hubtown, Zenith Steel Pipes & Industries, Shah Metacorp, and KBC Global among those that rose over 10% on the NSE.
7. Circuit Breakers Engaged: 92 stocks hit upper circuits, while 41 hit lower circuits, indicating extreme price volatility.
8. Advance-Decline Ratio: The market showed a clear bearish bias, with 2,112 stocks declining against 783 advancing stocks.
9. 52-Week Highs and Lows: While 97 stocks reached 52-week highs on the BSE, 34 stocks hit their 52-week lows.
10. Technical Outlook: The Nifty 50 breached key support levels, prompting Kotak Securities' Shrikant Chouhan to anticipate further weakness, projecting potential drops to 24,700-24,650 unless support levels hold.