Final Trade (June 19): Markets slip into red after a volatile session; Sensex dips 83 pts, Nifty closes at 24,793

Indian stock market benchmarks ended Thursday's session, June 19, on a muted note amid heightened geopolitical tensions and concerns over the US Federal Reserve’s cautious economic outlook. While frontline indices held relatively steady, the broader markets faced sharp cuts, dragging down investor sentiment across the board.

Benchmarks end marginally lower

The BSE Sensex closed 83 points, or 0.10 per cent, lower at 81,361.87, while the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 19 points, or 0.08 per cent, to settle at 24,793.25. Despite attempts to recover intraday losses, weak global cues kept the pressure intact.

Broader market sees heavy sell-off

The real damage was seen in the broader market. The BSE Midcap index crashed 1.64 per cent, and the Smallcap index plunged 1.77 per cent, signalling a sharp erosion in investor appetite for riskier bets.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies dropped to nearly Rs 442.5 lakh crore from Rs 446.3 lakh crore in the previous session. Investors were poorer by over Rs 4 lakh crore in a single day.

What dragged the market?

Investor sentiment remained on edge as fears of a larger Israel-Iran conflict intensified. US President Donald Trump warned that it might be “too late” for Iran to negotiate and hinted at “something big” next week, adding to geopolitical uncertainty.

Simultaneously, the US Federal Reserve's decision to hold rates steady at 4.25–4.50 per cent while signalling persistent inflation and slower growth contributed to risk aversion. The revised US GDP growth projection of 1.4 per cent for 2025 and higher PCE inflation estimates reinforced a stagflationary outlook, weighing heavily on export-oriented sectors like IT.

Sectoral check: Auto outperforms, PSU Banks and Media tumble

On the sectoral front, Nifty Auto was the only gainer, rising 0.52 per cent, led by buying in Mahindra & Mahindra and Eicher Motors. In contrast, Nifty PSU Bank dropped 2.04 per cent, Media fell 1.91 per cent, Realty declined 1.60 per cent, and Metal slipped 1.29 per cent.

Nifty Bank lost 0.45 per cent, while Financial Services and Private Bank indices were down 0.38 per cent and 0.30 per cent, respectively.

Nifty 50 gainers and losers

Top gainers included Tata Consumer (up 2.14 per cent), Eicher Motors (up 1.71 per cent), and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.58 per cent). On the flip side, Adani Ports (down 2.52 per cent), Bajaj Finance (down 2.29 per cent), and Shriram Finance (down 2.08 per cent) were among the top laggards.

Outlook

With global headwinds intensifying and earnings season drawing to a close, market direction in the coming sessions will largely depend on further geopolitical developments and cues from the US economic data, particularly inflation and job market trends.