The Sensex lost 372.10 points on Monday, closing at 76,728.37, and the Nifty finished at 23,946.25, back under the 24,000 mark it had held on Thursday. Oil was the trigger. Brent crude rose 1.51 per cent to $73.09 a barrel after the US and Iran traded attacks over the Strait of Hormuz.
The 30-share BSE index fell 0.48 per cent. At its worst it was down 478.72 points, touching 76,621.75. The 50-share NSE Nifty shed 109.75 points, or 0.46 per cent. Thursday’s close had been 77,100.47 for the Sensex and 24,056 for the Nifty, both up 0.14 per cent that day. Indian exchanges were shut on Friday for Muharram.
Hormuz again
The two sides later agreed to stop fighting and resume talks. That kept the damage limited, but analysts doubted it would last. “Geopolitical tensions escalated sharply over the weekend as the US and Iran exchanged attacks over the Strait of Hormuz before agreeing to halt hostilities and renew talks, keeping losses in check, but raising serious questions over the deal’s durability and heightening the risk of a breakdown, leaving headline risk and volatility deeply embedded in market reactions,” said Ponmudi R, chief executive of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm.
The strait is a narrow lane between Iran and Oman, and roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes through it. India imports more than four fifths of the crude it uses, so a jump in prices feeds quickly into the import bill, the rupee and inflation expectations. Candlle’s market coverage said IT and auto stocks took the brunt of the selling. IT firms depend on dollar revenue and global risk appetite, while carmakers worry that dearer fuel will hurt consumers.
Stocks
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest loser on the Sensex, down 3.24 per cent. The bank said managing director and chief executive Ashok Vaswani will leave when his three-year term ends on December 31, 2026, and will not seek reappointment. Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, InterGlobe Aviation, UltraTech Cement and Larsen & Toubro also fell. Eternal, Trent, Bharat Electronics and NTPC closed higher.
On the technical side, Nagaraj Shetti, a senior technical research analyst at HDFC Securities, said the Nifty could swing sharply in the near term before trying to bounce, with 23,800 the level to watch on the downside.
Foreign investors have been net sellers of Indian equities for several months, though foreign portfolio investors put roughly Rs 35,000 crore into Indian bonds in June. Exchange data showed foreign institutions bought equities worth Rs 383.76 crore on Thursday.
Elsewhere
Asia was mixed. South Korea’s Kospi ended lower, while Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all finished higher. European markets traded lower at midsession. US markets had closed marginally down on Friday.
Sources
- Nifty Closes Below 24,000 as Iran-Hormuz Tension Spikes Oil to $73
- Sensex Falls 372 Points, Nifty Slips Below 24,000 Amid US-Iran Tensions
