Mumbai, June 12: The Indian stock markets witnessed a sharp fall on Thursday after a volatile trading session, as weak global cues and rising tensions between the US and Iran weighed on investor sentiment.

The Sensex dropped by 823.16 points, or 1 per cent, to close at 81,691.98 after slipping to an intra-day low of 81,523.16.

The Nifty fell below the psychological 25,000 mark and ended at 24,888.20, down by 253.20 points or 1.01 per cent.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Tata Motors, Titan, Power Grid, Tata Steel, L&T and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top losers, each falling over 2 per cent.

Only Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Tech Mahindra managed to stay in the green.

Broader market indices also ended in the red. The Nifty Midcap100 declined by 1.73 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap100 fell by 1.90 per cent -- indicating a broader market sell-off.

All sectoral indices closed lower. The Nifty Realty index was the worst performer, dropping by 2.02 per cent.

Shares of major real estate companies such as Phoenix, Godrej Properties, Anant Raj, DLF, Prestige, Sobha, Brigade, and Macrotech Developers declined by up to 3 per cent.

Other sectors including energy, consumer durables, oil and gas, auto, PSU banks, FMCG, metal, and financial services also fell more than 1 per cent each.

"Consolidation in domestic markets is evolving into a broad-based trend, now extending to large-cap stocks. Valuation concerns and rising oil prices -- driven by Middle East tensions -- are fuelling risk aversion among investors,” said Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments Limited.

“Adding to the uncertainty, the US is considering unilateral tariff hikes on several key trading partners, with a decision expected within the next one to two weeks, ahead of an early July deadline,” Nair added.

He added that gold is witnessing a fresh leg of safe-haven buying, amid escalating geopolitical and economic risks.

Meanwhile, market volatility spiked as the India VIX, which measures market fear and volatility, rose by 2.54 per cent to 14.01. (IANS)

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