Friday the 13th jitters: Sensex tanks over 1,100 pts, Nifty slips below 24,700 as Israel-Iran tensions flare
Indian benchmark equity indices plunged in early trade on Friday, mirroring sharp losses in Asian markets after
Israel
launched military strikes on Iran, heightening geopolitical tensions in the oil-rich Middle East.
At around 9:19 am, the BSE
Sensex
was down 1,163 points, or 1.42%, at 80,528, while the Nifty50 fell 284 points, or 1.13%, to 24,608.
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Among sectors,
Nifty
Oil & Gas was the worst performer, falling 1.6%, dragged by losses in Mahanagar Gas, IGL, BPCL, and IOC. Meanwhile Nifty Bank, IT, Auto, Metal, and PSU Bank indices declined between 1% and 1.5%. In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap index slipped 1.1%, and the Nifty Smallcap100 dropped 1.5%.
The market capitalisation of all listed companies on the BSE fell by Rs 5.52 lakh crore to Rs 444.06 lakh crore.
Here are key reasons behind today's
stock market crash
Live Events
1) Israeli strike on Iran
The selloff was triggered by Israel's military strike on Iran early Friday. Israel said it targeted nuclear facilities, missile factories, and top military commanders in a 'preemptive strike' to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
A state of emergency was declared in Israel in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone attacks.
Iranian state media confirmed the death of Hossein Salami, Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Israeli officials also claimed that several senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists were likely killed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the strike a "unilateral action" by Israel and clarified that Washington was not involved.
The attack comes amid stalled nuclear talks, with a sixth round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran scheduled in Oman on Sunday.
2) Oil prices surge on supply fears
Brent crude futures jumped $6.29, or 9.07%, to $75.65 a barrel by 03:15 GMT after touching an intraday high of $78.50 — the highest since January 27.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed $6.43, or 9.45%, to $74.47 a barrel, after hitting $77.62, the highest since January 21.
These were the sharpest intraday gains for both benchmarks since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to a spike in energy prices.
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