Sensex Tumbles 780 Points, Nifty Slips Below 25,900 Amid Broad-Based Sell-off – Here’s Why Stock Market Fell Today

The benchmark indices extended losses for the fourth straight session on January 8, 2026, as a mix of geopolitical developments affected investor sentiment. After starting the session on a positive note, both the Sensex and the Nifty 50, witnessed strong selling pressure during the mid-session, and eventually ended near their intra-day lows.

The Sensex slipped 851 points to hit the day’s low at 84,110.10, and closed at 84,180.96, down by 780.18 points, or 0.92 per cent from the previous day’s close. Likewise, the Nifty 50 tumbled 282.30 points to touch the day's low at 25,858.45, and eventually closed at 25,876.85, down by 263.90 points, or 1.01 per cent over the previous day.

The broader market indices witnessed even stronger selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 closing nearly 2 per cent lower each. The Nifty 500 index, which represents more than 92 per cent of the total market cap of all the NSE-listed stocks, lost 1.40 per cent.

All Sectors Close In Red, Metal Top Loser

All the sectoral indices closed in the red. Metals, oil and gas, PSU banks, and IT stocks bore the heaviest brunt in today’s selling. Nifty Metal plunged 3.40 per cent, Nifty Oil & Gas fell 2.84 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank lost 2.08 per cent, and Nifty IT tumbled 1.99 per cent.

The Nifty indices of realty, pharma, healthcare, media, and chemicals fell more than 1 per cent each. The Nifty Auto and the Nifty FMCG slipped 0.97 per cent and 0.90 per cent, respectively. The Nifty Bank lost 0.51 per cent to close at 59,686.50.

Nifty 50: Top Gainers And Losers

Barring Eternal (formerly Zomato), SBI Life Insurance, ICICI Bank, and Bajaj Finance, all other constituents of the Nifty 50 index closed in the red. Bharat Electronics ended flat.

Dragging the headline index, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, ONGC, Jio Financial Services, and Hindalco fell 3-4 per cent. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Adani Enterprises, Larsen & Toubro, and JSW Steel also declined between 2.50 per cent and 3 per cent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell 2.23 per cent, weighing the most on the 50-share index.

Investors Lose Rs 8.56 Lakh Crore

After today’s sell-off, investors lost a cumulative 8.56 lakh crore in wealth. Of the total 3,247 stocks traded today on the NSE, 545 stocks advanced, 2,625 stocks declined, while 77 remained unchanged. A total of 43 stocks touched new 52-week highs, while 177 stocks hit fresh 52-week lows. A total of 46 stocks closed at the upper circuits, and 95 closed at the lower circuits.

Why Stock Market Fell Today

Domestic equities fell today as global risk sentiment turned cautious after US President Donald Trump backed a proposal that threatens a fresh round of trade disruption.

The immediate trigger was Trump’s support for the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, a proposed US law that allows Washington to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on countries that continue to buy Russian oil and energy products. While this is just a proposal, market participants quickly factored in the potential risk.

India is directly exposed to this risk as it continues to buy Russian oil. Any punitive action from the US could complicate trade ties at a time when the US remains India’s largest export destination.

Market participants fear that the exponentially high tariffs would make exports to the US market significantly more expensive, hurting demand, margins and earnings across export-heavy sectors. The proposal has also revived concerns of a broader global trade war as Trump warned that even some NATO countries could also face similar action. This uncertainty triggered a broad-based selling across the market.

“Continued foreign institutional selling, coupled with weakness in the rupee, further added to the negative bias. With global cues remaining mixed and the earnings season approaching, trading activity remained cautious and largely stock-specific,” said Ajit Mishra, senior vice president, research, at Religare Broking in a post-market note.

Stock Market Outlook: What To Watch Next

It will be crucial to track further developments on US tariffs, Q3 earnings updates, and key US economic data, including non-farm payrolls data and unemployment data due on January 9.