Why did the Indian stock market crash today? | 13 Feb 2026

It was mainly because the global mood turned “risk-off” (people started selling risky assets everywhere), and India got pulled into that wave.

1) US jobs data = rate cuts may get delayed

⚠️ US jobs data just dropped

Expected: 66K 

Actual: 130K

When US job numbers are strong, markets think:

➡️ The US Fed may not cut interest rates soon.

Higher rates for longer = bad for risk assets like stocks and crypto.

2) Strong dollar hurts emerging markets like India

If rate cuts get delayed, the US dollar usually becomes stronger.

A strong dollar often means:

• Foreign investors become more careful in emerging markets

• Some selling can happen in India (FII pressure)

• Rupee can weaken, which also hurts sentiment

  
  

3) Biggest hit: IT stocks

Indian IT companies are very sensitive to US growth + US tech sentiment.

If US tech falls or global risk sentiment worsens, IT gets sold first in India.

So IT selling pulled Nifty/Sensex down more.

4) Chain reaction selling

Once big stocks fall, the market triggers:

• stop-loss selling

• algo selling

• margin pressure in some pockets

  So the fall spreads from one sector to others.