Stock market faced a significant selloff on Friday with Sensex and Nifty dropping nearly 1 per cent. At close, the Sensex was down 662.87 points or 0.83 per cent at 79,402.29, and the Nifty was down 218.60 points or 0.90 per cent at 24,180.80.

Benchmark indices opened positive but erased the gains in the opening hour and turned into red. Midcap and small-cap indices underperformed, each dropping around 2 per cent, which highlighted the broader market’s vulnerability. The market’s fall wiped out nearly Rs 9 lakh crore in market capitalisation in a single day, with the total market value of BSE-listed firms plunging to about Rs 435 lakh crore from Rs 444 lakh crore in the previous session.

On Nifty, the gainers were ITC, Sun Pharma, Britannia Industries, HUL and Axis Bank. While IndusInd Bank, BPCL, Adani Enterprises, Shriram Finance, and M&M were among the top losers. Among the sectors, all other indices ended in the red except FMCG (up 0.5 per cent) with auto, capital goods, metal, oil & gas, power, telecom, media down 1-2 per cent.

On BSE, over 100 stocks touched their 52-high including, CARE Ratings, Cigniti Technologies, Coforge, Deepak Fertilisers, Dixon Technologies, Piramal Pharma, Poly Medicure, Radico Khaitan, Wockhardt, among others. Shares of Bikaji Foods surged over 10 per cent after the company reported robust second quarter earnings. Godrej Consumer Products rose as much as 6 per cent after a host of brokerages issued bullish calls on the counter following the company’s second quarter earnings. ITC shares also saw an uptick after the company delivered a standout earnings report in the second quarter.

However, IndusInd Bank shares tanked nearly 20 per cent after it reported a significant 39 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit for the second quarter to Rs 1,331 crore. L&T shares fell almost 4 per cent after UBS downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ and slashed the target price suggesting headwinds in the coming quarters.

The market’s downturn was driven by heavy foreign investor outflows, stretched valuations, disappointing September quarter earnings, and global uncertainties, including the upcoming U.S. elections and escalating tensions in the Middle East.