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 Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, in collaboration with Aerospace Services India (ASI) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), hosted the Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile India Eco-System Summit 2.0 at the Manekshaw Centre here, aimed at enhancing India’s air and missile defence capabilities, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

The inaugural session focussed on the growing synergy between Indian and Israeli Defence sectors.

The day-long summit brought together key stakeholders from India’s Defence eco-system, highlighting collaborative achievements and future possibilities in enhancing India’s air and missile defence capabilities under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make-in-India' initiatives.

The summit emphasised the achievements of ASI-IAI’s wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, which plays a critical role in providing technical representation, life-cycle support, and local manufacturing for the Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) system and its associated subsystems such as the BARAK 8 missile and Air Defence Fire Control Radar.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday publicly denied media reports suggesting that it has approached the Government for intervention in its ongoing stand-off with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over its delayed Initial Public Offering (IPO).

In a post on social media platform X, the exchange categorically refuted claims that it had reached out to the government for assistance.

"The story is denied by NSE," the exchange stated in its clarification, adding that there has been "no correspondence with the Government of India in the last 30 months relating to its IPO."

This statement comes in response to a news report citing unnamed sources who claimed that NSE had recently written to the Ministry of Finance requesting help in resolving regulatory hurdles holding up its long-awaited IPO.

The report alleged that the letter followed the rejection of NSE's latest application to SEBI in March for a 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) required to proceed with the listing.

After India successfully carried out Operation Sindoor, domestic carriers cancelled around 430 flights on Thursday, which is nearly three per cent of the total scheduled flights in the country, as 27 airports remain shut till May 10.

According to data from flight tracking platform Flightradar24, airspace over Pakistan and the western corridor of India was largely free of civilian aircraft.

“Airspace over Pakistan and the western shoulder of India between Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat was free of civilian air traffic as airlines shunned the sensitive zone,” according to the portal, which shared live flight path data and cancellation figures.

Ahead of the all-party meeting here on Thursday, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him on the current situation on the Western border and developments after Operation Sindoor.

As per sources, the meeting continued for almost an hour at the PM's residence.

After the meeting with the NSA, the Union Home Secretary also met the Prime Minister.

The briefing comes as 13 civilians died in Jammu and Kashmir in heavy shelling by Pakistan. As per the government, these are the civilian casualties in ceasefire violations along the LoC by Pakistan, and all are in Poonch. The number of injured has risen to 59. Of these, 44 are in Poonch.

The Indian equity indices opened almost flat on Thursday as geopolitical tensions remained high after ‘Operation Sindoor’.

At 9.26 am, Sensex was up 25 points at 80,772 and Nifty was down 3 points at 24,410.

Buying was seen in the largecap and midcap stocks. Nifty midcap 100 index was up 166 points or 0.30 per cent at 54,445 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 132 points or 0.81 per cent at 16,550.

Among the sectoral index, auto, IT, PSU bank, fin service, media, energy and private bank were trading with gains. Pharma, FMCG, metal, realty and infra were trading in the red.

As Asian equities are trading in the green mirroring overnight gains in the US markets, domestic equity indices too could see a steady positive start in the backdrop of the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions, said analysts.

Despite high volatility during the trading session on Wednesday, Indian stock markets managed to close in the green.

The Sensex erased all the early losses and closed with a gain of 105 points, or 0.13 per cent at 80,746.

Similarly, the Nifty closed the intra-day trading session with a 0.14 per cent gain at 24,414, reclaiming the crucial 24,400 mark.

"Regarding Nifty, the highest open interest on the call side is concentrated at the 24,500 and 24,400 strike prices, while the highest open interest on the put side is seen at 24,300 and 24,400,” said Sundar Kewat of Ashika Institutional Equity.

As India gave the details of the Operation Sindoor to the world on Wednesday, two women defence officers took centre stage as they addressed the media.

India's briefing on the operation was done by Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, thereby giving a strong and significant message.

As the women led the charge after the Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s opening brief, the two officers shed light on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people died, and then, India's action, 'Operation Sindoor', against the perpetrators.

The choice of women officers giving the details of the operation is meant to serve as a powerful message reflecting strength and sacrifice. This is also symbolic of the anti-terror Operation Sindoor -- a way of honouring those women whose husbands were brutally killed by terrorists in the Pahalgam attack on April 22.

More than 70 terrorists were killed as India carried out missile strikes across nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in response to the dastardly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

The counterstrike left more than 60 terrorists injured across the nine target locations -- Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal.

Codenamed Operation Sindoor, it represented a "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible" answer to Pakistan's continuing support of cross-border terrorism and strikes on India, the government said in a briefing Wednesday morning.

The targets were selected based on "credible intelligence input" and focused on "dismantling terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists", Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a press conference.

India has exercised its right to respond to dastardly acts of terror emanating from the neighbouring nation, the government said on Wednesday, hours after Indian armed forces destroyed terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, holding a press conference along with Colonel Sophia and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh on 'Operation Sindoor', said that India's response to Pahalgam attacks was measured, calibrated and non-escalatory.

Vikram Misri said that Indian strikes were meant to dismantle and decimate terror infrastructure across the border, and there was no collateral damage in the precision strikes.

Describing Pakistan as a haven of terrorists, he said that the rogue nations continue to harbour them, despite being called out globally.