Weak international cues set a somber tone for Indian equities as the market opened sharply lower on Friday morning. By 9:19 AM, benchmark Sensex was down 444 points (0.54%) at 82,100, and Nifty retreated 157 points (0.62%) to 25,261.

The downturn was led by relentless selling in metal and commodities sectors, making Nifty Metal and Nifty Commodities the day’s top decliners. Other sectors like IT, media, energy, PSE, realty, PSU banking, and defense followed suit into negative territory. Only healthcare, pharma, and FMCG indices showed resilience with marginal gains.

Sensex gainers included Maruti Suzuki, Indigo, Titan, ITC, and Sun Pharma, providing limited counterbalance. Losers dominated with Tata Steel, Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Eternal, BEL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Axis Bank posting notable losses.

Broad-based selling hit midcaps and smallcaps hard. Nifty Midcap 100 declined 0.99% or 579.75 points to 57,961.25, while Nifty Smallcap 100 was off 1.09% or 182.70 points at 16,642.30.

Global markets offered little cheer: Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Bangkok were down, though Seoul and Jakarta edged higher. Thursday’s US session ended mixed, Dow gaining 0.11% against Nasdaq’s 0.72% drop.

Precious metals and oil joined the slide. Gold fell 1.99% to $5,250/oz, silver 3.50% to $110/oz. WTI crude eased 1.71% to $64.31/barrel, Brent 1.60% to $68.51/barrel.

Market participants are bracing for volatility, watching for triggers from global trade tensions and domestic earnings that could either deepen the correction or spark a rebound.