Indian stock markets took a sharp tumble on Tuesday, November 4, with the Sensex dropping 519 points, or 0.62%, to close at 83,459.15. The Nifty 50 followed suit, sliding 166 points—or 0.64%—and ending the session slightly under the significant 25,600 mark, settling at 25,597.65. With the wipeout, investors watched more than ₹2 lakh crore in market value vanish in a single trading session.
It wasn’t just the headline indices feeling the chill. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell by 0.26% and 0.69%, respectively, while the broader Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 lost 0.08% and 0.07%. As for sectoral performance, Nifty Consumer Durables, Media, Oil & Gas, and Realty eked out modest gains, but Nifty Auto led the laggards with a 0.71% drop, followed closely by PSU Bank and FMCG, both down 0.38%.
Global Cues Rattle Indian Equities
Tuesday’s slide came as investors exercised caution amid uncertainty over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates. Mixed signals from Asian markets added to the turbulence—Japan’s Nikkei edged up by 0.13%, but South Korea’s KOSPI nosedived 1.6%. Singapore and Hong Kong indices also split: Straits Times slipped 0.21%, while the Hang Seng inched up 0.23%. In a twist, Wall Street closed higher the night before, fueled by tech rallies at giants like Nvidia and Amazon—yet that positivity failed to carry over to Asia or Dalal Street.
On the domestic front, after enjoying their strongest monthly rally in seven months throughout October, Indian benchmarks started November largely flat, with Monday’s session seeing PSU banks outperform on robust Q2 earnings. But the mood soured by Tuesday as investors pocketed profits and grappled with lackluster earnings and uncertainty around U.S.–India trade talks.
Market Breadth & Key Movers
The early trade showed a bit of resilience: 56 stocks touched one-year highs, and 41 hit upper circuits, but by the close, just 13 NIFTY50 stocks advanced while 37 declined. Notably, Hero MotoCorp shares plunged as much as 5.17% after disappointing October sales data, marking the company’s sharpest fall since February 2025. Among the top losers on the Nifty 50 were Power Grid Corp, Eternal Ltd., Coal India Ltd., and Adani Enterprises.
BSE saw 91 stocks—among them KNR Constructions, Clean Science and Technology, and Delta Corp—hit their 52-week lows. According to Kotak Securities’ head of equity research, Shrikant Chouhan, Nifty’s downward bias could extend if it remains below 25,700, with further downside risk toward 25,550.
Amid the market’s volatility—the India VIX index climbed 1.55% to 12.86—analysts are warning that weak sentiment may linger until global cues stabilize and clarity emerges on the U.S. rates and trade talk fronts.
