Indian stock market benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, suffered strong losses in intraday trade on Wednesday, 22 April, after rising for the last three consecutive sessions.

The Sensex crashed more than 800 points, or 1%, to an intraday low of 78,442, while the NSE barometer Nifty 50 plunged over 200 points, or nearly 1%, to the day’s low of 24,353.

However, the mid and small-cap segments exhibited resilience. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices rose by up to half a per cent during the session.

Why is Sensex, Nifty 50 falling today?

Let’s take a look at some key factors behind the fall in the Indian stock market benchmarks:

1. Profit booking in bank, IT heavyweights

The equity benchmarks decline due to profit booking in banks and IT heavyweights amid the ongoing Q4 earnings season. Nifty Bank declined by more than half a per cent during the session, after clocking a gain of 2.3% over the last three sessions.

On the other hand, the Nifty IT index crashed almost 4% during the session after weak Q4 earnings and cautious management commentaries of some IT companies.

Meanwhile, over the last three consecutive sessions, the 30-share pack Sensex had risen by 1,285 points, or 1.6%, and the Nifty 50 had jumped 380 points, or 1.6%.

2. Persisting concerns over the US-Iran war

While US President Donald Trump announced the extension of the ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, there is no clarity on when the talks between the two countries will resume and how they plan to resolve the key bones of contention.

A White House official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan for talks on Tuesday as previously planned, pending the submission of an Iranian proposal.

The market is cautiously awaiting fresh updates from West Asia, as a prolonged conflict in the region could derail global growth momentum and raise inflationary pressures.

(This is a developing story. Please check back for fresh updates.)