Stock market crash: Following weak global cues, the Indian stock market witnessed strong selling pressure on Friday. The Indian stock market crash was broad-based but disproportionately driven by high-beta and growth-oriented sectors. IT bore the brunt of the pressure amid AI disruption fears and global tech weakness, significantly dragging down index heavyweights. Metals and mining stocks followed with sharp declines, reflecting global commodity softness and concerns over Chinese demand trends. Energy counters weakened amid crude volatility, while autos, FMCG, banking, and financial stocks witnessed steady profit-taking amid the broader risk-off cascade.
Among the key benchmark indices, the Nifty 50 index ended 336 points lower at 25,471; the BSE Sensex finished 1,048 points lower at 82,626; and the Bank Nifty index lost 553 points, closing at 60,186.
According to stock market experts, this AI disruption has renewed fears of a slowdown, especially amid the ongoing rise in inflation in the US and other countries. If this trickles down further and hits demand and job creation, or maybe job losses, which is the actual fear of the market, then we may see many more such stock market crashes in the US and the Indian stock market. They said the Nasdaq has corrected around 5.50% from its one-month closing high of 23,857, and further correction in the tech-heavy index, especially in double-digit percentages, is expected to put pressure on the Indian stock market. They said that further weakness in the Nasdaq index may bring down the BSE Sensex to around 60,000 levels and the Nifty 50 index to around 18,000 by the end of FY27.
Stock market crash: Nasdaq index in focus
Advising stock market investors to take Friday’s stock market crash seriously, Amit Goel, Chief Global Strategist at PACE 360, said, “Investors are advised to take Friday’s stock market crash seriously because it was broad-based, and the reason for this selling was AI disruption, which is an outside trigger. This AI fear triggered sharp selling in Nasdaq-listed stocks such as NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft. After the intensified selling, the Nasdaq index has corrected 5.50% from its one-month closing high of 23,857.”
The PACE 360 expert said that Indian investors should remain vigilant about the Nasdaq index performance. He said the tech-heavy index of the US stock market must recover in the first few sessions of next week. He stressed that the rebound should be strong, not a dead-cat bounce, in which bull-market gains are less than the losses incurred during the bear market.
Renewed fear of slowdown
If the Nasdaq index fails to recover its losses from last week, Amit Goel said, “Further correction in the Nasdaq and other US stock indices is expected to renew the fear of a slowdown in the US economy, which may further intensify the selling pressure on Wall Street. When Wall Street is under the bears’ grip, how can other global bourses, including India’s Nifty 50, Sensex, and Bank Nifty indices, expect to remain insulated from the US stock market crash?
Echoing with Amit Goel’s views, Anuj Gupta, a SEBI-registered market expert, said, “Symptoms of slowdown like risk of inflation, lower demand, lower earnings of the companies, fear of job losses, etc., are already looming around the US economy. On Friday, we saw the US inflation rising by 0.30% to 2.40% in January 2026. Post-COVID, the US Fed has been trying to bring US inflation back to 2%, but it has been unable to contain it within its target range. Though the US job data for January.”
Anuj Gupta said that US workers still face job insecurity and weak hiring. Despite headline employment growth, U.S. workers are still struggling with high living costs, job insecurity, and limited wage growth.
“In a recent BBC report, it was found that job openings and hiring rates have hit a multi-year low in the US. The hiring slowdown has sparked concerns about the overall health of the US economy. However, there is little clear evidence so far that the broader economy is experiencing a significant downturn,” said Anuj Gupta.
In October 2025, Goldman Sachs also reported that America could be looking at a new period of “jobless growth” with the arrival of new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), allowing more companies to operate with fewer workers.
How to assume the beginning of the US slowdown?
On how to assume the beginning of the US slowdown, Amit Goel of PACE 360 said, “A dead-cat bounce in the US stock market in the near-term would mean a fast approaching slowdown. The impact of this US slowdown is expected to become visible in the US stock market by the third quarter of this year, and it may remain dominant for at least the next two years. In India, we can expect the US slowdown to start affecting markets from the beginning of October 2026 if IT stocks fail to pare their losses from last week. In fact, Indian IT stocks have remained under the bears’ grip for the last four years, after peaking ahead of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. But, the recent sell-off in the IT stocks amid fear of AI disruption is a serious matter for the entire markets because it intensified selling in those sectors that were considered defensive and safe during the bear trend.”
On how far the US slowdown would impact the Indian stock market, Amit Goel said, “This time, if the US slowdown comes, I am expecting around 30% correction in the Indian indices from current levels by the end of FY 2026-27. This means the BSE Sensex may come around 60,000 by the end of FY27 and the Nifty 50 may touch 18,000 by the end of March 20287.”
Outlook for the Nifty 50, Sensex today
Speaking on the near-term outlook of the Nifty 50 and Sensex today, Amol Athawale, VP Technical Research at Kotak Securities, said, “We believe that the intraday market texture is still on the weak side, but a fresh selloff is possible only if the market dismisses the 20-day SMA (Simple Moving Average) or 25,400/82,500. Below this level, the market could extend the correction to 25,300/82,200. Further downside may continue, potentially dragging the index to 25,150-25,100/81,700-81,500. On the upside, 25,600/83,100 would act as an immediate resistance for the bulls. Above this, a pullback could continue towards the 50-day SMA, around 25,800–25,900/83,700-84,000.”
Key Takeaways
- The Indian stock market is closely tied to the performance of US indices, particularly the Nasdaq.
- AI disruption fears and rising inflation are key factors contributing to market volatility.
- Investors should remain vigilant and prepared for potential corrections in the upcoming quarters.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
