Mumbai: Indian stock markets fell hard on Thursday due to weak global signals and rising tensions in the Middle East. Both Sensex and Nifty ended the day about 1 percent lower, as investors booked profits and turned cautious.

The BSE Sensex dropped 823.16 points to close at 81,691.98, while the NSE Nifty lost 253.20 points to settle at 24,888.20. Both indexes fell below key support levels – 82,000 for Sensex and 25,000 for Nifty – triggering stronger selling during the day.

All major sector indices closed in the red, with the Capital Market index falling the most – over 3 percent.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said that the market formed a long bearish candle on the daily charts, which shows weakness may continue. He noted that the short-term market trend looks weak, and more selling could happen if Nifty falls below 24,825 or Sensex slips under 81,500. These are also close to their 20-day simple moving averages (SMA).

“If that happens, the Nifty may fall further to 24,700–24,650, and the Sensex could drop to 81,100–81,000,” Chouhan said. However, he added that if the market moves above 24,920 on the Nifty or 81,800 on the Sensex, a quick recovery or intraday bounce back is possible up to 25,050/82,150 levels.

Foreign investors also added to the selling pressure by pulling out Rs 446.31 crore from Indian equities on Wednesday.

In global markets, China and South Korea saw gains, while Japan, Hong Kong, and European markets were down. US stocks also closed lower on Wednesday.

Tensions in the Middle East and the possibility of new US trade tariffs under Donald Trump added to investor worries. Oil prices, however, dropped 1.43 percent to USD 68.77 a barrel.

In another tragic event, an Air India plane with 242 people crashed near Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff. Many casualties are feared.

On Wednesday, Sensex had risen 123 points and Nifty was up 37 points.