Stock Market Crash: Five major reasons behind the ₹20 lakh crore wipe out this week

Indian stock markets are set for yet another weekly loss as the selling pressure shows no signs on abating. Thursday, October 1, marked yet another session where the indices were under severe pressure, with selling seen across the board.

The market concluded the September series on Tuesday with its worst September series in 25 years. October has also begun on a negative note. This truncated week has seen the market capitalization of all BSE-listed companies be wiped out by ₹20 lakh crore.

12 Nifty 50 stocks are trading at 52-week lows, namely Maruti Suzuki, M&M, ITC, NTPC, HUL, Bharat electronics, Reliance Industries, ONGC and others.

This will also be the first time in 25 years that the Nifty would have reported eight straight weeks of losses.

Here are five key reasons as to why the markets fell the way they did:

One, crude oil prices continue to rise. Brent crude for the December contracts is now back at $100 a barrel, when it began trading at levels of $96 to $97 a barrel.

The rise in oil prices has percolated down to the global bond yields as well. The US 10-year bond yield is now at 5.3%, while the 30-year yield is nearing the mark of 5.7%.

Two, the relentless selling by foreign institutional investors also continued through the week. FIIs have sold nearly ₹2.5 lakh crore in the cash market so far this year.

While July and August saw FII inflows, September has seen a trend reversal and how, with selling of over ₹36,000 crore.

Three, the oil prices and rising bond yields have also had an impact on the currency. The rupee is back above the mark of 96 against the US Dollar for the first time in two months.

Four, the constant supply of paper has also put pressure on the equity markets, with nearly 100 mainboard IPOs having already raised ₹1.13 lakh crore so far this year. Block deals too have continued to put pressure on the markets. Deals worth nearly ₹1 lakh crore have taken place so far in the first nine months, which is nearly the same level as seen in all of 2025.

and lastly, the fears of global monetary policy tightening is also pressure on the markets. With the Fed having already hiked rates, all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of India, who will announce its policy decision in the upcoming week.

Based on the projections, the RBI is expected to raise rates next week and the US Federal Reserve may see at least one or two rate hikes by the end of the year.