Indian Investors Lose ₹11.56 Lakh Crore in a Single Session as Nifty Closes at 18-Month Low, Sensex Sinks 1,045 Points

Indian equity markets suffered heavy losses on Thursday, October 8, as rising crude oil prices, a weakening rupee and concerns over the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary tightening weighed on investor sentiment. The Sensex and Nifty registered their biggest single-day declines in three months, while selling spread across large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks.

Nifty Remained Under Pressure Throughout the Day

The Nifty 50 opened near the 25,600 mark, which remained its highest level of the session. Selling pressure emerged immediately and continued throughout the day, with the index forming a series of lower highs and lower lows. It eventually touched an intraday low of 22,179.90 before recovering marginally towards the close.

The Nifty 50 settled at 22,231.80, down 371.25 points or 1.64%, marking its lowest closing level since April 2025. The Sensex dropped 1,045.46 points, or 1.44%, to finish at 71,593.24.

Bank Nifty performed relatively better than the headline indices but still declined 0.98%. Meanwhile, India VIX, which measures expected market volatility, jumped more than 10% to move above the 15 mark. 

Investors Lose ₹11.56 Lakh Crore in a Single Session

The sharp selloff resulted in a substantial decline in the market value of listed companies.

The total market capitalisation fell from ₹4,72,35,273.39 crore on Wednesday to ₹4,60,78,788.55 crore on Thursday, translating into an erosion of approximately ₹11.56 lakh crore in investor wealth.

This represents a decline of nearly 2.45% in total market capitalisation, reflecting the extent of selling across the market.

Midcap and Smallcap Index Declined by Over 2%

Selling was not restricted to benchmark indices, as broader market stocks recorded even sharper declines.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index dropped 2.53%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 2.34%. 

Sectoral Performance: All 11 Sectoral Indices End in Negative Territory

Sectoral performance remained uniformly weak, with all 11 major NSE sectoral indices closing in the red.

The Nifty Metal index was among the worst performers, falling 3.55%. Every constituent of the index ended lower, resulting in its steepest single-day decline since March 23, 2026.

The widespread losses indicated that selling was not concentrated in any particular industry but extended across multiple sectors.

Market breadth deteriorated sharply, with declining stocks significantly outnumbering advancing stocks on the NSE.

Out of 3,722 stocks traded during the session, only 660 advanced, while 2,950 declined and 112 remained unchanged.
The advance-decline ratio stood at approximately 0.22, meaning more than four stocks declined for every stock that advanced.

Additionally, 271 stocks touched fresh 52-week lows, compared with only 71 stocks reaching 52-week highs.

What Triggered Thursday’s Sharp Fall in Indian Markets? 

Several domestic and global factors contributed to the sharp fall in the Indian markets on Thursday. Here are the key reasons behind the decline. 

RBI's Hawkish Policy and Rising Oil Prices Add Pressure

The market decline followed the RBI's decision to increase the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% on Wednesday. The central bank also adopted a calibrated tightening stance, raising concerns that borrowing costs could remain elevated.

At the same time, international crude oil prices rose sharply amid fresh geopolitical tensions involving the US and Iran.

Brent crude climbed more than 4% to around $104.3 per barrel, its highest level in two weeks.

Reports suggesting that the US administration had asked the Pentagon to prepare potential military strike options against Iran increased concerns over further disruptions to energy supplies.

Supply-related uncertainty also intensified after Tropical Storm Isaias forced producers in the Gulf of Mexico to halt more than 5.10 lakh barrels per day of crude output, representing approximately one-fourth of the region's production.

Although Middle Eastern oil exports have gradually recovered towards prewar levels, attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and renewed tensions involving the Houthis and Saudi Arabia continued to raise supply risks.

For India, which depends heavily on imported crude oil, sustained high energy prices could increase the import bill and add pressure on inflation and the rupee.

Rupee Remains Close to Record Low Against US Dollar

The Indian rupee remained under pressure on Thursday, ending nearly unchanged at ₹96.78 per US dollar.

The currency traded close to its all-time low of ₹96.96, recorded in May 2026, with likely RBI intervention helping prevent further depreciation.

The rupee has weakened by more than 7% against the US dollar so far this year, making it one of the weaker-performing Asian currencies.

Higher global bond yields, persistent foreign capital outflows and elevated crude oil prices have contributed to the decline.
Meanwhile, the US dollar remained firm as expectations of further interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve continued to support the American currency.

Despite the RBI's latest rate increase, the rupee remains vulnerable to external pressures, particularly if crude oil prices stay elevated and foreign investment flows remain weak.

European Markets Trade Lower Amid Global Uncertainty

The negative sentiment was also visible in European equity markets, where major benchmarks were trading lower on Thursday.

Germany's DAX declined 240.86 points, or 0.96%, to 24,863.50, while France's CAC 40 slipped 70.50 points, or 0.91%, to 7,698.71.

The UK's FTSE 100 was also trading lower by 51.89 points, or 0.50%, at 10,406.61.

The weakness across European markets came amid rising energy prices, geopolitical uncertainty and concerns over the outlook for global interest rates.

US Stock Futures Indicate Weak Opening on Wall Street

US equity index futures were also trading lower ahead of Thursday's regular market session, suggesting that selling pressure could extend to Wall Street.

Dow Jones futures fell 397 points, or 0.77%, to 51,052.

S&P 500 futures declined 30.50 points, or 0.39%, to 7,822.25, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 173.50 points, or 0.55%, to 31,228.75.

The losses across all three major US index futures reflected continued caution among global investors as crude oil prices increased and monetary policy uncertainty persisted.