Sensex, Nifty tumble nearly 2pc in early trade as Iran tensions push crude prices higher

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell nearly 2 per cent in early trade amid rising geopolitical tensions after US President Donald Trump warned of intensified military action against Iran. Surging crude prices and persistent foreign investor outflows further weighed on domestic equities.

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined 2 per cent in early trade on Thursday amid rising geopolitical tensions following US President Donald Trump’s warning of intensified military actions against Iran, driving crude oil prices higher.

Unabated foreign fund outflows also added to the weakness in domestic equities.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted by 1,433.72 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 71,700.60. The 50-share NSE Nifty dived 445.70 points, or 1.97 per cent, to 22,233.70 in the morning trade.

All the 30-Sensex firms were trading lower, with Sun Pharmaceuticals, IndiGo, Adani Ports, Eternal, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, NTPC, State Bank of India, Trent, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and PowerGrid emerging as the major laggards.

“With President Trump’s declaration ‘we are going to hit Iran extremely hard in the next two to three weeks,’ market sentiments have again turned negative.

“Brent crude spiked around 5 per cent to USD 105, and the US 10-year bond yield again firmed up to 4.36 per cent, negatively impacting gold and silver prices, though marginally,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 8,331.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 7,171.80 crore.

“The high crude price, the widening trade deficit, the fear of declining remittances and sustained FPI selling are acting cumulatively to put high pressure on the rupee, which continues to decline despite RBI’s decisions on restrictions on dollar futures deals,” Vijayakumar added.

Broader Asian markets were trading lower, with South Korea’s Kospi benchmark falling by 4.31 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index declining 2.24 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plummeting 1.04 per cent, and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index slipping 0.53 per cent.

Meanwhile, the US market ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 4.44 per cent higher to USD 105.65 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,186.77 points to settle at 73,134.32. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 348 points to end at 22,679.40.