Mumbai, April 24, 2026, 12:55 IST
Indian stocks slid sharply Friday. The Sensex dropped over 1,000 points, while the Nifty 50 broke under 23,900 midway through the session. Tech names took another hit, and rising oil prices helped flip a tentative start into widespread selling.
The drop dragged the market closer to a third loss in a row, threatening to break a two-week winning stretch for both main indexes. By early trade, the Nifty 50 slipped 0.66% to 24,013.75 and the BSE Sensex was off 0.76% at 77,074.63. Notably, every one of the 16 key sectors traded in the red.
Oil is trickier. Brent crude pushed up to around $106 a barrel, with worries over the Strait of Hormuz sharpening investor attention on India’s import costs, inflation, and corporate margins; India, heavily reliant on foreign oil, usually feels the pinch when crude prices climb.
J.P. Morgan has downgraded Indian equities to “neutral” from “overweight”, pointing to rich valuations and earnings headwinds tied to energy shocks following the Iran war. The bank lowered its Nifty 50 target for year-end by 10%, setting it at 27,000. Forecasts for FY2027 earnings were also pulled back across energy, consumer, auto, and financials. Reuters
Just a day prior, HSBC cut its rating on India to “underweight” from “neutral.” Herald van der Linde, who heads Asia-Pacific equity strategy at the bank, said India now appears “less attractive than its North East Asian peers” given today’s macro conditions, and he expects earnings downgrades ahead. Business Standard
The tech sector proved a drag. Infosys put its fiscal 2027 constant-currency revenue growth at just 1.5% to 3.5%—lower than the 2% to 4% analysts had penciled in. That constant-currency metric excludes currency fluctuations. According to Reuters, Tata Consultancy Services recorded its first annual revenue dip in over 20 years. HCLTech also flagged soft growth for the year.
Pareekh Jain, who leads IT research firm EIIR Trend, pointed out that investors had been hoping for stronger FY2027 growth, but Infosys and HCLTech failed to provide it. Infosys CEO Salil Parekh described the company’s AI services strategy as “gaining traction in the market,” though that progress wasn’t sufficient to make up for the disappointing guidance. Moneycontrol
Selling didn’t just hit the major IT stocks. The Nifty IT index slipped nearly 3%, with Tech Mahindra, Mphasis, Infosys, LTIMindtree, and Coforge all in the red. Pressure wasn’t confined to the big names—mid-cap and small-cap stocks took a hit too.
Currency woes are piling onto equity market strain. The rupee’s real effective exchange rate, which factors in inflation and trade, just dropped to its weakest level in over ten years—dragged lower by rising crude and steady foreign portfolio outflows. Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran told Bloomberg News that, for long-term investors, the current valuation could be an “attractive entry point.” Reuters
Risks aren’t all pointed in one direction. A genuine thaw in the U.S.-Iran standoff could see crude prices slip and steady broader risk appetite. But if disruptions in the Hormuz corridor drag on, oil stays elevated, and pressure mounts on the rupee and foreign inflows. “De-escalation in violence, oil prices and volatility isn’t likely to be linear,” said Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho’s head of macro strategy for Asia-Pacific. Reuters
