Stock markets halt 6-day rally; Sensex, Nifty dive nearly 1% as HDFC Bank, Reliance drag

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply by nearly 1% on Friday (August 22, 2025), snapping their six-day winning streak, amid intense selling in market heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 693.86 points or 0.85% to settle at 81,306.85. During the day, it plunged 708.94 points or 0.86% to 81,291.77.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 213.65 points or 0.85% to 24,870.10.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, ITC, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and Tech Mahindra were among the major laggards.

However, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Bharat Electronics and Sun Pharma were among the gainers.

Investors also turned their attention towards U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s forthcoming statements at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

In the six-day rally to Thursday (August 21, 2025), the BSE benchmark has climbed 1,765 points or 2.14%, and the Nifty rallied 596 points or 2.4%.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled in positive territory.

Markets in Europe were trading in the green in mid-session deals.

The U.S. markets ended lower on Thursday (August 21, 2025).