Nifty ends lower amid renewed West Asia jitters

Date: 08-05-2026

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower with cut of over half a percent on Friday amid renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia as fresh exchanges of fire between the U.S.-Iran near the Strait of Hormuz dampened investors' sentiment and heightened volatility across global market. Index made a negative start and remained under pressure throughout the session. Traders were cautious with foreign fund outflow. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 340.89 crore on Thursday. Meanwhile, traders overlooked Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that despite facing unprecedented global challenges such as active warfare, broken supply chains, and rising protectionism, India's 6.6% GDP growth cements its status as the world's fastest-growing large economy.

Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, Consumer Durables and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in PSU Bank, Oil & Gas and Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Nuvama Wealth Management, Coforge and Titan Company. On the other hand, the top losers were Dalmia Bharat, State Bank of India and Britannia Industries. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.