Sensex, Nifty 50 fall amid rising India-Pakistan tensions: 10 key highlights from Indian stock market today

Frontline indices—the Sensex and the Nifty 50—ended lower on Thursday, May 8, amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the government announced that Indian armed forces had targeted air defence radars and systems at multiple locations in Pakistan.

The Sensex closed at 80,334.81, with a loss of 412 points, or 0.51 per cent, while the Nifty 50 ended 141 points, or 0.58 per cent, down at 24,273.80. Broader indices underperformed, as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell 1.90 per cent and 1.05 per cent, respectively.

Volatility index India VIX jumped 10.21 per cent, indicating increased nervousness among market participants.

Investors lost nearly ₹5 lakh crore in a single session as the cumulative market capitalisation of firms listed on the BSE dropped to nearly ₹418.50 lakh crore from over ₹423.50 lakh crore in the previous session.

Indian stock market: 10 key highlights from the day

Here are 10 key highlights from the stock market today:

1. Why did the Indian stock market fall today?

The domestic equity market ended with losses amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Indian government on Thursday said that the Indian Armed Forces neutralised the air defence system at Lahore.

"On the night of 07-08 May 2025, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks," said a Ministry of Defence statement.

"Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised," the statement said.

Experts pointed out that growing uncertainty on the India-Pakistan front is weighing on market sentiment, triggering profit booking.

“There is growing uncertainty in the markets as investors are worried that the ongoing tension resulting in a major conflict between the two nuclear-powered nations going ahead could spark a major sell-off in equities, and hence profit-taking was seen in almost all the sectors barring select IT counters," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

2. Top losers in the Nifty 50 index today

As many as 45 stocks ended with losses in the Nifty 50 index, out of which Shriram Finance (down 4.48 per cent), Eternal (down 4.18 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.55 per cent), Adani Enterprises (down 3.53 per cent) and Hindalco Industries (down 3.19 per cent) were the top losers.

3. Gainers in the Nifty 50 index

Five stocks - Axis Bank (up 0.75 per cent), HCL Technologies (up 0.56 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.54 per cent), Titan Company (up 0.18 per cent) and Tata Motors (up 0.01 per cent) - ended in the green in the Nifty 50 index.

4. Sectoral indices today

Barring Nifty IT (up 0.23 per cent) and Media (up 0.20 per cent), all sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Realty as the top losers, falling 2.47 per cent.

Nifty Metal, Healthcare and Auto ended with hefty losses of 2.09 per cent, 1.95 per cent and 1.90 per cent, respectively.

Nifty Pharma fell 1.62 per cent, Oil and Gas declined 1.44 per cent and PSU Bank index dropped 1.35 per cent.

Nifty Bank slipped 0.45 per cent, while the Financial Services index declined 0.71 per cent.

5. Most active stocks in terms of volume

Vodafone Idea (44.14 crore shares), YES Bank (15.75 crore shares) and Canara Bank (7.85 crore shares) were the most active stocks in terms of volume on the NSE.

6. Nine stocks jump more than 10% on NSE

GACM Technologies Ltd-RE, GACM Techno Ltd-RE, Ginni Filaments, Pavna Industries and Shankara Building Products were among the nine stocks that surged more than 10 per cent on the NSE.

7. Over 70 stocks hit upper circuits

As many as 73 stocks, including Shankara Building Products, International Gemmological Institute, Senco Gold and Pokarna, hit their upper price bands during the session on the NSE.

8. Over 60 stocks hit lower circuits on NSE

Some 61 stocks, including Womancart, Gayatri Highways and Crown Lifters, hit their lower circuits in intraday trade on the NSE.

9. Advance-decline ratio

The advance-decline ratio tilted towards the decliners.

Some 2,027 stocks declined, while 820 advanced and 88 remained unchanged on the NSE.

10. Stocks at their 52-week highs and lows

Jindal Saw, Jain Irrigation Systems, Syngene International, Ramkrishna Forgings and Vedant Fashions were among the 70 stocks that hit their 52-week lows in intraday trade on the BSE.

On the other hand, 67 stocks, including ICICI Bank, Choice International, Ceat, Aster DM Healthcare, Anupam Rasayan India, Marico, K.P.R. Mill and Navin Fluorine International, hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.

Read all market-related news here

Read more stories by Nishant Kumar

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions, as market conditions can change rapidly, and circumstances may vary.