Nifty, Sensex Down 2%; Adani Ports, Reliance, Bajaj Auto Are Top Losers

During Monday's trading session benchmark stock market indices including Nifty and Sensex fell by about 2%. The decline led to panic in Dalal Street as it wiped out a substantial portion of wealth from investor’s portfolios.

The Sensex crashed by 1,310.69 points to trade at 78,413.43, while the 50-share barometer was down by 400 points. Stocks including Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Bajaj Auto, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, and Tata Motors led the decline.

RIL fell by 3.54% at ₹1,291.20. This was mainly due to large profit booking done by the investors. While Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto fell by 5.4% and 4.66%, ONGC and Adani Ports were trading in red at 4% and 3.83% respectively.

The downturn in the bourses can be attributed to various factors, which includes poor Q2 earnings season (Jul-Sep), uncertainty ahead of US Presidential elections and excessive selling activity by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

Weak Q2 earnings have also put a dent on investor sentiments as major companies have downgraded their earnings forecasts. For eg, BPCL cut its FY25 EPS projections by a shocking 34.3% following its Q2 results.

Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, “Given the prevailing conditions, FPIs may continue their selling spree in this challenging earnings environment, limiting the potential for any market recovery.”

In addition to this, as the FIIs have redirected their investments, the expectation of a stimulus package from China has further exacerbated capital outflows from India. The recent downturn in the market is also keeping Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) cautious.

Currently, Nifty and Sensex are set to approach their critical 200-DMA levels—around 23,500 and 77,000. However, analysts confirmed that these temporary blips can improve if selling pressure eases.

Notably, during these turbulent times, investors should be cautious and focus on those stocks with reasonable valuations and strong earnings momentum.