Indian stock indices ended sharply in the red on Friday, August 11 as risk-off sentiment prevailed, stoked by external negativity. With macro factors on the back burner, investors sold off risk assets, mainly due to a crisis between the US and North Korea, whose leaders have exchanged imprecations, spawning heightened geopolitical tension. By the close, the Nifty 50 fell 1.11% to 9,710.88, and the BSE Sensex dropped 1.01% to 31,213.59. In the blue-chip universe, Dr Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma, and Infosys logged gains, while Hindalco, State Bank of India and Vedanta underperformed, closing markedly lower. The USD/INR pair weakened 0.03% to 64.147. The 10-year Indian government bond yield narrowed 0.11% to 6.489%. The Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto benchmarks retreated 1.3% and 2.3% as market participants opted for the sidelines. State-owned Union Bank of India plunged 5.3% to a multi-month low after reporting that profit fell 30%. As for other banking names, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and IDFC Bank receded 4.2%, 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively. Motorcycle and scooter maker TVS Motor tanked 7.6% as revenue rose 19%, while profit increased just 6.8%, missing expectations. From a technical standpoint, the daily chart shows that the BSE Sensex has broken out of a rising wedge to the upside and is still likely to revert to a correction in the short term.