A Glance at the Stock Market India Today: Factors that Led to the Downward Movement

The Indian stock market faced a weak start this morning, with Sensex opening at 81,377.39 (previous close: 81,635.91) and crashed nearly 700 points to hit an intraday low of 80,940.67.  The Nifty 50 opened at 24,899.50 against the previous close of 24,967.75 and dropped by almost 1% to its day’s low of 24,755.60.

Source: Tradingview

Source: Tradingview

Both midcap and smallcap stocks followed the trend, with BSE MidCap falling around 0.85% and SmallCap by over 1%. This shows the selling pressure wasn’t just limited to large cap stocks.

Most sectors were in the red except FMCG, which posted modest gains thanks to consumer-focused stocks likeNestle.

Source: NSE

Let’s have a look at the top gainers and losers today.

Top 3 Gainers: 

Stock Name	Previous Close (₹)	Opening Price (₹)	LTP (₹)	% Change
Reliable Data Services Ltd.	113.40	113.40	136.08	20.00%
Gujarat Apollo Industries Ltd.	484.85	492.05	549.85	13.41%
Ajooni Biotech Ltd.	5.08	5.35	5.69	12.01%

Source: NSE

Top 3 Losers:

Full Stock Name	Previous Close (₹)	Opening Price (₹)	LTP (₹)	% Change
Affordable Robotic & Automation Ltd.	348.85	356.80	310	–11.14%
Nexgen Industrial Knife Manufacturing Company	69.88	69.88	63.50	–9.13%
Vodafone Idea Limited	7.40	7.10	6.73	–9.05%

Source: NSE

So what are the factors contributing to this downward market movement?

1. US Tariffs uncertainty: Effective tomorrow (26th August, 2025) US has claimed imposing additional tariffs up to 50% (additional 25% of duties) on Indian goods. These tariffs are expected to significantly impact the MSME sectors which account for almost 45% of total exports in India.
   
   The tariffs are specifically aimed at restraining India’s trade relationship with Russia. The uncertainty surrounding the tariffs have caused Indian investors to lose confidence and triggered widespread selling across different sectors.

2. Technical levels and Volatility in the market: When benchmark indices like Nifty fail to hold key support levels (for example, dropping below 25,000), it signals weakness and often triggers more selling by traders and institutional investors who closely monitor these charts for buy/sell decisions. Therefore, while Nifty is struggling around 24,800 level, this shows that investors are not ready to buy aggressively at higher prices, thereby triggering selling.

3. Foreign Investment Outflows: Foreign portfolio investors have been net sellers, selling off Indian equities in bulk, as a reaction to global trade worries and policy changes. This, further, reduces market liquidity and amplifies downward moves in stock prices.Summary:

Today, the Indian equity market fell sharply amid uncertainty over US tariffs and global policy moves. Key indices Sensex and Nifty both dropped around 1%. Midcap and smallcap stocks also declined, showing that caution extended across all company sizes. Most sectors saw declines except for FMCG, which held up relatively well.