It’s Friday the 13th — and a Bloodbath on Dalal Street

Mumbai | June 13

This Friday the 13th, traders didn’t just sell stocks. They sold optimism.

In a session steeped in red, the Sensex tumbled 1,337 points, closing at 80,354 — marking its worst Friday-the-13th plunge in nearly a decade. The Nifty 50 shed 415 points, slipping below the crucial 24,500 barrier. What began as a Middle East flashpoint quickly spiralled into a full-blown global risk-off. And India was caught right in the storm.

Middle East Flashpoint: Israeli Offensive Raises Oil & War Risk

• Global traders woke up to breaking headlines: Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear assets under the codename Operation Rising Lion. The offensive rattled markets from Tokyo to Toronto.
• Brent crude surged nearly 13% intraday, settling 9% higher at $75.74/barrel. With the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for global oil transport — now in potential jeopardy, energy traders hit the panic button.
• For India, which imports over 85% of its crude, the ripple effects were immediate. A spike in oil threatens to blow out the current account deficit, derail RBI’s easing hopes, and pressure the rupee.
• The currency cracked at the open — down 54 paise at 86.14/$ — intensifying risk aversion across the board.
• This wasn’t just another geopolitical flare-up. It was a recalibration of global risk.

No Place to Hide: Sectors Soaked in Red

The selling was indiscriminate.

• Nifty Auto, PSU Bank, and Metal indices fell over 1.5% each.
• Midcaps sank 1.35%, and Smallcaps bled 1.55% — deepening the pain beyond blue chips.
• Even defensive bets in FMCG and healthcare struggled to hold ground.

The market breadth was decisively negative, with more than 4 stocks declining for every advancer.

Asia Catches the Contagion — India wasn’t alone. Across Asia, equity screens turned crimson:

• Nikkei 225 fell 1.33%,
• Kospi lost 1.17%,
• Hang Seng dropped 0.98%,
• CSI 300 shed 0.78%.

Even US futures, which had been resilient in recent weeks, cracked ahead of the Wall Street open — Nasdaq futures down 1.7%, and Dow futures off 1.47%.

Friday the 13th: A Superstition with a Statistical Twist

It’s a date steeped in folklore. But this time, it had teeth.

Since 1990, India has seen 55 Friday the 13ths. According to NSE data, the majority have ended in the green, defying superstition more often than not.

But today broke the pattern — and the market.

A snapshot of key Friday the 13ths:

Superstition alone didn’t sink the markets — but the coincidence was hard to ignore. One dealer quipped, “If you didn’t believe in Friday the 13th before, today made a convincing case.”

With volatility surging and India VIX jumping over 10%, traders pulled out their risk manuals. FIIs stepped up selling. Rate cut optimism faded. Rupee weakness worsened the mood. There was no bottom-fishing, no late-day reversal — just orderly panic.

The mood has shifted. Investors are no longer focused on earnings or macros — the needle now swings on drones, diplomacy, and diesel.

Looking Ahead: Eyes on Iran

The road ahead now depends on Iran’s response. Should Tehran retaliate forcefully, oil could spike past $85/barrel, and India’s inflation and fiscal math will come under fresh strain. Until then, investors are expected to remain defensive — holding cash, rotating into safer assets, and avoiding aggressive positioning. For the near term, headlines — not fundamentals — will dictate sentiment.

Friday the 13th has long been a superstition. But today, data and disaster aligned. It was one of those rare sessions where the tape didn’t lie, and neither did the calendar.

Dalal Street didn’t just correct — it capitulated.