Market Falls Sharply In Final Hour, Nifty Slips Below 25,500 Amid Rising Global Fears

Mumbai: The Indian stock market saw a steep fall on Thursday, February 19. The selling pressure increased sharply in the last hour of trade. After a positive start, the market quickly lost momentum and slipped deeper into the red.

The Sensex closed over 1,236 points lower, while the Nifty fell around 350–365 points and ended just above the 25,450 mark, barely managing to hold that level. All major sectors closed in the red, with Realty and Media stocks losing nearly 2 percent.

Why Did the Market Fall?

Several global and domestic factors led to the fall.

Weak signals from European markets added to investor worries. Poor earnings in Europe and rising tensions between the United States and Iran hurt global sentiment. Traders feared that if the US takes action against Iran after Friday’s market close, markets could react sharply next week.

Brent crude oil prices stayed near $70 per barrel due to geopolitical concerns. Rising oil prices are negative for India, which imports most of its oil. Higher oil prices can increase inflation and widen the current account deficit. This added more pressure on equities.

Experts also believe that after three straight sessions of gains — about 1.4 percent rise in Sensex and Nifty — investors chose to book profits amid uncertainty.

Technical Levels Signal Weakness

According to technical experts, Nifty faces strong resistance between 25,900 and 26,000. The index also broke below its 50-day Simple Moving Average around 25,750, which triggered more selling.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said that once the market breached key levels, selling intensified. A long bearish candle on daily charts indicates more weakness ahead.

He said that as long as Nifty trades below 25,500, weak sentiment may continue. On the downside, Nifty could retest 25,300 and even 25,200 levels. However, if it moves above 25,500, a pullback towards 25,600–25,650 is possible.

Rabobank’s Senior Global Strategist Michael Every warned that risks are tilted towards possible US action after Friday’s market close, and any conflict could last weeks.

Given high volatility and F&O expiry, experts suggest level-based trading for day traders.