Sensex ends 296 points lower, Nifty slips below 25,350; rupee hits record closing low.

The stock exchanges will hold a special live trading session during regular market hours. On Friday, domestic benchmarks witnessed sharp profit booking, with the Sensex and Nifty retreating from recent peaks as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the crucial budget announcement. The Sensex plunged up to 625 points (0.75%), touching an intraday low of 81,941.03, while the Nifty 50 moved in tandem, slipping nearly 205 points (0.8%) to 25,224.35. The early sell-off wiped out nearly ₹4 lakh crore of investor wealth within the first 15 minutes of trading, dragging the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms down to ₹455.73 lakh crore. However, equities recovered part of their losses by the closing bell. The Sensex settled 296.59 points (0.36%) lower at 82,269.78, while the Nifty declined 98 points (0.39%) to finish at 25,320.65. The market correction was driven by multiple headwinds, including budget-related nervousness, a depreciating rupee, continued foreign institutional selling, and elevated crude oil prices, leading investors to scale back positions after the recent rally. Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.