Mumbai, Feb. 19 — Indian equity benchmarks witnessed sharp selling pressure on Wednesday as escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran triggered risk-off sentiment across global markets.
The BSE Sensex closed at 82,348.18, down 1,386.07 points (-1.66%), while the NSE Nifty 50 settled at 25,413.40, falling 405.95 points (-1.57%). The indices remained under sustained pressure throughout the trading session, with intraday charts reflecting a steady downward trajectory.
Broad-Based Selling
Market breadth remained negative, with heavyweights and midcaps witnessing profit booking. Several Group A stocks recorded notable declines:
Lloyds Metals & Energy: -7.00%
Zaggle Prepaid Ocean: -6.30%
Lloyds Enterprises: -6.25%
Hexaware Technologies: -6.12%
Hindustan Petroleum: -5.55%
However, selective buying was visible in a few counters:
Newgen Software Technologies: +14.74%
Tata Investment Corporation: +5.88%
Oil India: +5.14%
Godrej Industries: +4.66%
Netweb Technologies: +4.27%
Most Active Stocks
Trading activity remained elevated in several small- and mid-cap counters. Among the most traded companies by volume were:
Alstone Textiles – 41.5 million shares
Welcure Drug & Pharma – 38.2 million shares
Filatex Fashions – 29.9 million shares
Sylph Industries – 28.0 million shares
Vodafone Idea – 23.1 million shares
Global Cues Weigh
The sharp decline comes amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, which has dampened investor appetite for risk assets globally. Market participants cited concerns over potential supply disruptions, rising crude oil prices, and foreign institutional outflows as key near-term risks.
