While it may send chills through popular Western culture, it seems to hold little sway over Dalal Street, where markets tend to move more on fundamentals.
A closer look at the past 17 Friday-the-13th trading sessions, including today, suggests that markets in India are far more driven by fundamental factors. In fact, contrary to the long-held Western belief that the day brings misfortune, historical exchange data shows no consistent pattern of negative performance in Indian equities.
Recent data is a case in point. The Indian market has actually closed higher in 52.94% of the last 17 such sessions – that’s 9 positive finishes. In some instances, gains were outright strong: on March 13, 2020, the Nifty 50 surged as much as 4% in a single day, while both September 13 and December 13 in 2019 ended about 1% higher. The trend continued on August 13, 2021, and December 13, 2024, when markets again posted gains of roughly 1%.
During the last instance on February 13 2026, Sensex and Nifty plunged 1% each to extend losses for a second straight session as a deepening selloff in IT stocks rattled investor sentiment amid mounting fears of AI-led disruption.
What’s happening today?
Indian stock markets opened sharply lower on Friday, with the Sensex falling more than 800 points and the Nifty dropping below 23,400. The benchmark indices are on track to record their biggest weekly drop in more than a year as the raging war between Iran and Israel-US and soaring crude oil prices has rattled investor sentiment.
“Nifty 50 opened with a sharp gap-down near 23,476, reflecting continued weakness in the broader market structure. The index currently remains under strong bearish control, suggesting a continuation of the prevailing downtrend amid persistent selling pressure,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said.
On the downside, 23,300 emerges as the immediate support level. A sustained breakdown below this level could accelerate the decline toward the 23,000–22,500 zone, which represents the next major demand area.
On the upside, 23,600 now acts as the immediate resistance, corresponding to the gap area created at the opening. A stronger resistance is placed around 23,800, which needs to be decisively reclaimed to signal any meaningful recovery. Momentum indicators continue to reflect weakness, he added.
The RSI remains in the mid-20s, indicating oversold conditions but without any clear reversal signal. Meanwhile, the MACD remains deeply in negative territory, highlighting the persistence of bearish momentum.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)