India’s equity market extended its losing streak to an eighth consecutive week, the first such stretch since 2001, with the Sensex hitting a fresh 52-week low and the Nifty nearing the mark on Thursday as elevated US 10-year Treasury yields and Brent crude above $100 a barrel intensified the sell-off.
Persistent FII selling added to the pressure, with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloading Rs 10,148 crore on Wednesday, their biggest single-day outflow in nearly six months. Their net sales stood at Rs 9,160 crore on Thursday.
The Sensex hit an intraday low of 71,292.88 on Thursday. After some support, it settled at 71,909, down 0.76%. The Nifty 50 declined 0.88% to close at 22,421. Sudeep Shah, Vice President - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities said that Sensex has revisited the 71,000–71,300 levels for the first time since February 2024.
The broader market also witnessed selling pressure on Thursday, with the Nifty Midcap 100 declining 1.01% to 58,732 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 falling 0.97% to 19,058. Investors' wealth fell by more than Rs 5 lakh crore as the m-cap of all BSE-listed firms came down to Rs 468 lakh crore from Rs 473 lakh crore in the previous session.
The US 10-year Treasury yield has broken past its 2007 peak to 5.3%, the highest since April 2002, with the 30-year at 5.6%. Higher US bond yields trigger FII selling in India by making risk-free dollar assets more attractive, which drains liquidity from emerging markets.
Crude prices turned higher again, with Brent back above the $100 mark at $100.7/bbl, up 2.7%, after Chinese refiners suspended October product exports beyond Hong Kong and Macau through the Golden Week holiday to protect domestic supply. For an oil-importing economy like India, sustained crude at these levels can increase inflationary pressures, widen the import bill, put pressure on the rupee and squeeze corporate margins.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said that Indian equities are likely to stay under pressure in the near term as a record global bond rout, renewed strength in crude and the heaviest foreign selling in six months weigh on sentiment.
“With Nifty's earnings yield now below what US government debt pays, a sustained recovery is unlikely until global yields stabilise, crude eases and foreign outflows moderate,” added Khemka.
Sectorally, IT was the lone sector to advance 2.1%, while Auto was the top sectoral loser at -3.5%, followed by Nifty Metals (-2.3%) and Media (-2.3%).
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments said that domestically, investors are also cautious ahead of Q2 results and the upcoming RBI policy next week. “Q2 earnings are expected to be softer than Q1, which benefited from the lagged impact of operating costs, which may not be as available this time. While the RBI, which was more open-minded, last policy would consider a shift in its stance in response to global inflationary pressures and the need to support the INR,” added Nair.
Shah of SBI Securities said that while the index remains under strong selling pressure, technical indicators have entered extremely oversold territory. This suggests that the pace of the decline could moderate in the near term, with the possibility of consolidation and a minor rebound over the coming sessions, he added. He expects the 70,500–70,700 zone to act as a stronger support area in the coming sessions.
India has emerged as one of the worst-performing major equity markets globally in 2026 with the Nifty 50 delivering negative returns amid concerns ranging from AI disruption and US tariffs to persistent FII outflows and the latest US-Iran crisis. The index has fallen about 7% over the past month, taking its year-to-date decline to more than 14%.