Finance
Stock Market Close Highlights, Friday, May 9, 2025: Indian equity markets fell sharply on Friday as tensions between India and Pakistan rose after the latter fired eight missiles aimed at numerous Indian cities, all of which were intercepted by air defense forces. This comes after India launched a precision strike on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the horrific terror incident in Pahalgam on April 22.
As a preventive step, the Indian government has ordered that many cities implement complete blackouts and activate air raid sirens. Emergency precautions are being implemented in cities along the India-Pakistan border, and inhabitants are encouraged to remain indoors.
The benchmark BSE Sensex lost 880.34 points, or 1.10 percent, to end at 79,454.47. The NSE Nifty50 index closed at 24,008, down 265.80 points, or 1.10 percent.
In broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 closed flat with a negative bias, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 was down 0.61 percent at the close.
Nifty Bank, financial services, and realty all declined by more than 1%. The real estate industry was the hardest hit, falling roughly 2%. Automobile, information technology, energy, pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods, healthcare, and oil and gas all closed lower. Nifty PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Metal, Media, and Metal all closed higher.
Of the Sensex constituents, 25 out of 30 closed in the red. The leading laggards were ICICI Bank (-3.09%), PowerGrid (-2.61%), Ultratech (-2.15%), Bajaj Finance (-1.84%), and Reliance Industries (1.84%). Titanium rose 4.25 percent, followed by L&T (4.02 percent), Tata Motors (3.86 percent), State Bank of India (1.39 percent), and Asian Paints (0.2 percent).
India VIX, a fear index used to quantify volatility in the Indian market, increased 2.98 percent to 21.63 points. During the day, the index soared more than 8% to a high of 22.7, its highest level since April 8 of this year.
Source: BS
