Mumbai, Feb 19 (IANS) Indian benchmark indices witnessed heavy selling pressure on Thursday, recording their sharpest decline in more than two weeks as rising geopolitical tensions and higher crude oil prices hurt investor sentiment.

The Sensex closed at 82,498.14, down 1,236.11 points or 1.48 per cent. The Nifty settled at 25,454.35, falling 365 points or 1.41 per cent. The benchmarks posted their worst single-day fall since February 1 this year.

Technically, price action slipped below the short-term support band of 25,645–25,660, which coincided with the 20-day EMA, experts said.

“Once this support gave way, selling pressure accelerated modestly, dragging the index toward the 25,350–25,400 support region and breaching previous short-term demand levels,” an analyst stated.

The market decline was largely driven by rising crude oil prices and escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, which increased global uncertainty.

Investors also booked profits in heavyweights from the banking and FMCG sectors, adding to the downward pressure.

All 30 stocks in the Sensex ended in the red. Shares of IndiGo, M&M, UltraTech Cement, Trent and BEL were among the top losers, slipping up to 3.2 per cent during the session.

Broader markets also remained under pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 index ended 1.59 per cent lower, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 1.27 per cent.

Sector-wise, Nifty Realty, Nifty Media and Nifty Auto were the worst performers, each declining around 2 per cent.

Nifty FMCG as well as private and public sector bank indices also dropped more than 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors continued to trim their exposure to Indian equities.

In the first half of February, FPIs sold information technology stocks worth Rs 10,956 crore.

Despite an overall inflow of Rs 29,709 crore into Dalal Street during the same period, IT stocks saw the biggest selling pressure.

Market experts said investors are likely to remain cautious in the near term due to global uncertainties and volatility in crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, Gold traded positive after US-Iran talks failed to yield a constructive outcome, reigniting military tensions and prompting fresh safe-haven buying

–IANS

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