The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a negative start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 25,425 level, a discount of nearly 50 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Nifty is trading at 21.5 times its one-year forward earnings, which is above its historical average of 20.4 times. India is being perceived as relatively expensive market compared with other emerging market peers.

Concerns over the escalating conflict in the Middle East have raised fears of potential disruptions to crude supplies from the top oil-producing region, pushing prices higher—a situation that impacts net importers like India.

All the sectoral indices, barring the metals ended in the red. Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Realty, Nifty Private Bank fell the most, with cuts exceeding up to 4.5%. The stock market crash today resulted in the decline in market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE by around ₹10 lakh cr.

India stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Real Estate, Capital Goods and Auto sectors led shares lower. At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 fell 2.12%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index lost 2.