Mumbai, May 8: Indian stock markets closed lower on Thursday as rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan dampened investor sentiment.

The day began with optimism, but a sharp sell-off in the final hour of trade dragged the key indices into the red.

By the close of trade, the Sensex dropped by 411 points, or 0.51 per cent, ending the day at 80,334.

The Nifty opened on a flat note at 24,431 and briefly touched an intra-day high of 24,447. However, in the last hour of the trading session, the index witnessed a sharp decline, slipping to a low of 24,313 and finally, had fallen 0.51 per cent to close at 24,273, slipping below the 24,300 mark.

The decline came after the Indian government confirmed that the armed forces had carried out strikes on air defence radars and systems at multiple locations in Pakistan.

The escalating conflict follows India's targeted attack on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the early hours of Wednesday under a mission dubbed ‘Operation Sindoor’.

As a result, investors grew increasingly cautious, leading to a pullback in equity markets.

Adding to the pressure were hawkish remarks from the US Federal Reserve regarding growing risks of inflation and unemployment, which further unsettled global market sentiment.

Kotak Mahindra Bank led the gainers pack on Sensex with a gain of 0.81 per cent. It is followed by Axis Bank which closed the day with a gain of 0.7 per cent, Titan with 0.69 per cent rise, HCl tech, Tata Motors and more.

Mid- and small-cap stocks, which tend to be more volatile, took a harder hit.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index slid 2.16 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell by 1.6 per cent -- indicating broader weakness in the market.

Although India’s markets witnessed a moderate fall, the situation was more severe in Pakistan.

The benchmark KSE-100 index in Pakistan plunged 6 per cent during the day, prompting the stock exchange to halt trading to control the panic.

With geopolitical tensions on the rise and global uncertainties persisting, market volatility is expected to remain high in the near term, market experts noted.

--IANS

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