India’s benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, experienced significant declines on Thursday, October 17, as the weekly Nifty50 derivative contracts expired. The BSE Sensex plummeted 494.75 points or 0.61% to 81,006.61, while the NSE Nifty50 dropped 221.45 points or 0.89% to 24,749.85.
The indices hit intraday lows of 80,905.64 and 24,728.90, respectively, as investor sentiment remained bearish. The decline was largely driven by Bajaj Auto’s weak festive season sales forecast, which dragged the broader market down. Shares of Bajaj Auto plummeted 13% in trade, impacting other automakers and contributing to the Nifty Auto index’s 3.54% decline to 24,991.
According to Sagar Shetty, research analyst at StoxBox, “The broad market selloff experienced today was driven by Bajaj Auto’s comment on weak festival sales, which rippled through the sector.” Shetty added that this comment fueled investors’ already pessimistic outlook, exacerbated by underperforming results from large-cap stocks.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) selling also contributed to the market’s decline, with funds being diverted to Chinese markets. Weakness in Asian stocks, particularly in China, further dampened investor sentiment. China’s mainline CSI 300, Shanghai, and Hong Kong’s Heng Seng indices fell over 1% due to disappointing housing policy briefings and slumping property stocks.
Japan’s Nikkei also traded lower by 0.64% following weak September trade data. Japan’s exports fell 1.7% in September, marking the first decline in 10 months, while imports grew 2.1%, missing economists’ expectations.