Indian Stock Markets End Sharply Lower Amid Iran-US Tensions and Rising Crude Oil Prices

Indian stock markets witnessed a sharp decline in Thursday’s trading session as renewed geopolitical tensions between Iran and the United States, coupled with rising crude oil prices, triggered heavy selling pressure across sectors.

Benchmark indices opened on a weak note and continued to remain under pressure throughout the day. The Nifty index slipped below the crucial 24,200 mark during intraday trade and touched a low of 24,126.65.

However, selective buying in information technology, healthcare, and FMCG stocks helped the markets recover partially from the day’s lows.

At the close of trading, the BSE Sensex declined by 516.33 points to settle at 77,328.19, while the NSE Nifty fell 150.50 points to close at 24,176.15.

Despite the sharp decline during the session, the Sensex still managed to gain 0.5 percent for the week, while the Nifty 50 index recorded a weekly gain of 0.7 percent.

Among Sensex stocks, State Bank of India (SBI) emerged as one of the biggest losers after its March quarter earnings disappointed investors. SBI shares dropped 6.62 percent during the session.

Other major laggards included HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

On the positive side, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Infosys, and HCL Technologies registered gains despite the broader market weakness.

In the Nifty index as well, stocks such as SBI, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Axis Bank ended lower, while Asian Paints, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Consumer, Adani Ports, and Titan Company were among the top gainers.

Sector-wise, all indices except information technology, healthcare, and FMCG closed in negative territory. The PSU Bank index declined by nearly 3 percent, while the Oil & Gas index slipped around 1 percent.

Private banks, metals, energy, power, and real estate sectors also ended lower by around 0.5 percent each.

Meanwhile, more than 210 stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange touched their 52-week highs, including Thermax, Finolex Cables, Craftsman, Netweb, Natco Pharma, Adani Ports, Sai Life Sciences, Polycab India, Laurus Labs, MCX India, Cummins India, Apar Industries, RBL Bank, BHEL, Welspun Corp, and Hitachi Energy.

Among individual stocks, SBI shares fell 6.7 percent after the bank reported lower-than-expected earnings results.

Dabur India shares gained 3.6 percent after announcing strong fourth-quarter earnings, while Sonata Software surged 9 percent following a 25 percent rise in quarterly profit.

Thermax shares jumped 12.5 percent after reporting strong quarterly performance, whereas Globus Spirits fell 11 percent due to weak net interest income in the fourth quarter.

Although BSE Ltd reported a 32 percent increase in quarterly profit, its shares still declined 1.4 percent during the session.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi index ended higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225, China’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices closed lower.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs. 340.89 crore during the session.

International Brent crude oil prices traded near the $100-per-barrel mark amid escalating tensions in the Gulf region, adding further pressure on investor sentiment globally.