Sensex, Nifty Set For Worst Friday The 13th In Over Nine Years

Friday the 13th has been a day of mixed movements for India's benchmark equity indices over the last few years. Today, however, is likely to be at the worst end of the spectrum in recent years. Nifty and Sensex are set for their worst Friday the 13th losses in over nine years, according to data compiled by NDTV Profit.

Exchange data from Friday the 13th, a date associated with superstition and caution in popular culture, suggests that the Sensex and Nifty have a tendency for declines on certain occurrences of the date.

While some instances have delivered positive returns, a closer examination reveals a pattern of negative movements in several cases, including today.

On Friday, June 13, 2025, the Sensex fell as much as -1.03%, while the Nifty mirrored this fall with a decline of 1%. Markets fell amid broader sentiments of global headwinds that were triggered by Israel's strikes on Iran, and the latter's retaliation.

Looking back, Friday the 13th in 2016, also saw the Sensex fall by 1.17% and the Nifty by 1.08%. On Friday, January 13, 2017, returns were flat with a negative bias, as the Sensex closed 0.03% lower while the Nifty settled 0.08% down. Similarly, Friday, July 13, 2018, also reflected flat returns, with the BSE and NSE benchmarks closing 0.02% and 0.04% lower respectively.

In February 2020, just before the pandemic-led crash, the Sensex declined 0.26% while the Nifty fell 0.22%. May 13, 2022, saw similar declines, with Sensex down 0.26% and Nifty losing 0.16%.

Friday, October 13, 2023, also showed negative returns, with the Sensex declining 0.19% and the Nifty falling 0.22%.

Most recently, 2024 saw two instances of Friday the 13th, one in September, and one in December. The September weekend saw the Sensex post a 0.09% decline and the Nifty a similar 0.13% decline.

Conversely, several Friday the 13th dates have coincided with gains for the Indian market. On October 13, 2017, the Sensex was up 0.78% and the Nifty 0.7%. April 13, 2018, also saw positive movements, with the Sensex at 0.27% and the Nifty at 0.21%. September 13, 2019, generated returns of 0.76% for the Sensex and 0.85% for the Nifty. December 13, 2019, marked an upside of 1.05% for the Sensex and saw the Nifty gauge rise 0.96%.

In 2020, while February 13 was negative, November 13 brought gains of 0.2% for the Sensex and 0.23% for the Nifty. August 13, 2021, registered substantial positive movements, with the Sensex rising 1.08% and the Nifty 1.01%. January 13, 2023, also saw the Sensex up 0.51% and the Nifty up 0.55%. The last positive instance on record before today's decline was December 13, 2024, when the Sensex recorded 1.04% and the Nifty 0.89%.

One should note that, contrary to the general belief that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, data from the National Stock Exchange reveals that Indian sectors perform better on these Fridays compared to their average daily returns. Since its inception in 1990, the index has seen 55 such Fridays, a majority of which recorded positive returns for the index.