Energy stocks drag Indian shares down after Israel strikes Iran
MUMBAI: Indian shares declined on Friday, led by oil and gas stocks, as Israel's military strikes on Iran deepened tensions in the oil-rich Middle East and triggered a broad-based selloff across markets.
The Nifty 50 fell 1.21 per cent to 24,586.7 and the BSE Sensex slid 1.2 per cent to 80,710.56, as of 9:35 a.m. IST.
All 13 sectors logged losses. The broader, more domestically focussed smallcaps and midcaps shed 1.2 per cent each.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell 1 per cent, while safe havens like gold and the Swiss franc gained and oil prices surged 9 per cent amid fears of a supply disruption.
Israel said it struck Iranian nuclear targets to block Tehran from developing atomic weapons. The US has ruled out any involvement in the strikes against Iran.
The oil and gas index lost 1.5 per cent while the energy index shed 1.3 per cent.
Oil marketing companies such as BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corp fell 3.5 per cent each, as surging crude prices raised concerns over a potential squeeze in refining margins.
Airline operators Interglobe Aviation and SpiceJet lost about 4 per cent each after an Air India plane crashed in the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing nearly all of the 242 people on board, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
"Heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the Air India plane accident have dampened market sentiment, triggering the sharp fall," said Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research at HDFC Securities.
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New Straits Times
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- New Straits Times
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The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
India's watchdog warns Air India for breaching pilots' flight duty timings
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The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
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