Pakistan, India stock markets tumble on mounting Indo-Pak tensions

Following the recent Pahalgam attack, volatility continued on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday due to escalating tensions and Indian headline indices ended the session in the red, weighed down by a sudden and sharp sell-off.

However, PSK's value-hunting allowed the benchmark index to recover from its overnight losses partially, reports DAWN.

In India, the Sensex slipped over 1,000 points intraday, while the Nifty fell below the 24,000 mark, reports The Hindu.

The market mood turned cautious as escalating diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan, coupled with reports of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) following the terror attack, spooked investors on Dalal Street. 

At close, the Sensex ended the day below 79,200, while the Nifty settled near the 24,000 mark.

Sensex, Nifty fall for 2nd day on selling in Axis Bank

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined sharply on Friday due to selling in Axis Bank.

Wiping out early gains, the 30-share BSE barometer tanked 588.90 points or 0.74% to settle at 79,212.53. During the day, it dropped 1,195.62 points or 1.49% to 78,605.81.

Falling for the second day, the NSE Nifty tumbled 207.35 points or 0.86% to 24,039.35.

Experts said worries over growing geopolitical tensions after Tuesday's Pahalgam terror attack weighed on market sentiment.

All sectoral indices except for IT index closed in the red while midcap and smallcap indices dropped more than 2% due to profit taking.

Among Sensex shares, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Eternal, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and NTPC were the biggest laggards.

Axis Bank declined over 3% after the country's third largest private sector lender reported a sharp rise in loan loss provisions and a steep fall in the trading income for the last quarter of 2024-25. The bank's profit declined marginally in the March quarter to ₹7,117 crore, from ₹7,130 crore in the year-ago period.

However, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever and ICICI Bank were the gainers.

Despite Nifty opening at a higher level on Friday, geopolitical tensions with the neighbouring nation have led to the drop in the index, Ajay Garg, CEO, SMC Global Securities, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge tanked 2.56% and midcap dropped 2.44%.

Among BSE sectoral indices, services dropped 3.11%, utilities (2.96%), realty (2.87%), power (2.77%), consumer discretionary (2.28%), industrials (2.19%) and capital goods (2.06%). IT and BSE Focused IT ended higher.

As many as 3,246 stocks declined while 719 advanced and 119 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Pakistani shares partially recover overnight losses

Topline Securities Ltd said the market remained range-bound most of the session on account of border tensions, but some recovery was observed towards the end of the trading, as the index gained to close at 115,469.35, up 449.53 or 0.39 per cent day-on-day.

The top positive contribution to the index came from Habib Bank Ltd, Fauji Fertiliser, Meezan Bank Ltd, MCB Bank and National Bank, as they cumulatively contributed 570 points to the index.

Most investors were confused about market direction amidst war-mongering vibes created by heightened tensions between the neighbours.

The market participation was low as the trading volume fell 7.03pc to 471.07 million shares, while the traded value rose 11.52pc to Rs27.31 billion day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included World­Call Telecom (22.78m shares), Power Cement (21.96m shares), Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (21.56m shares), The Bank of Punjab (19.82m shares) and K-Electric (17.03m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were PIA Holding Company [B] (Rs298.39), Rafhan Maize (Rs150.00), Sazgar Eng­in­eering Works Company (Rs55.76), The Thal Indus­tries (Rs33.02), S.S.Oil Mills Ltd (Rs32.46).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs491.71), Hoechst Pakistan (Rs104.86), Siemens Pakistan (Rs56.95), JDW Sugar Mills (Rs50.82) and GlaxoSmithK Pak (Rs34.89).