Markets Sink on Oil Price Shock, Sensex Drops Over 560 Points, Nifty Loses 159

Indian benchmark indices ended sharply lower on Tuesday, snapping a three-session winning streak, as a surge in global crude oil prices amid escalating West Asia tensions weighed heavily on investor sentiment. Persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows , a weakening rupee, and rising inflation concerns further dampened market confidence.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 561.46 points, or 0.72 per cent , to settle at 77,054.94 , after falling as much as 614.92 points during intraday trade. The NSE Nifty 50 also declined 158.95 points, or 0.66 per cent , to close at 24,052.05 .

Among the Sensex constituents, HCL Technologies emerged as the biggest loser, dropping 4.42 per cent . Other major laggards included Bajaj Finserv, InterGlobe Aviation, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra , and Larsen & Toubro . On the positive side, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Adani Ports , and Eternal ended the session in the green.

Market sentiment took a hit after Brent crude , the global oil benchmark, surged 4.26 per cent to USD 86.85 per barrel , raising concerns over inflation and India's import bill.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Ltd , the sharp rise in crude oil prices due to renewed geopolitical tensions has revived fears that higher energy costs could delay the recovery in India's corporate earnings . He added that the rupee breaching the 96-per-US dollar mark has intensified concerns over imported inflation, further weighing on domestic equities.

Adding to the pressure, India's wholesale price inflation (WPI) rose to 9.87 per cent in June , compared with 9.68 per cent in May , driven by a sharp increase in food and non-food prices.

Globally, major Asian markets, including Japan's Nikkei 225, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite , and Hong Kong's Hang Seng , ended higher. However, European markets traded lower, while US markets had closed in negative territory on Monday.

Meanwhile, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,062.27 crore on Monday, extending pressure on domestic markets.