Markets tumble for third day as West Asia tensions, crude oil spike hit sentiment

Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended losses for the third consecutive day on Friday, pressured by rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia, surging crude prices, foreign fund outflows and a weak rupee.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 1,579.82 points, or 2 per cent, during intra-day trade to 74,454.60, before settling at 74,563.92, down 1,470.50 points (1.93 per cent). The NSE Nifty fell 488.05 points, or 2.06 per cent, to close at 23,151.10. Market breadth was weak, with 3,348 stocks declining, 941 advancing and 132 unchanged on the BSE.

Analysts said the sharp correction was largely driven by the crude oil surge toward USD 100 per barrel , raising fears of inflationary pressures, a widening current account deficit and pressure on corporate margins, particularly for energy-importing economies like India. Hariprasad K, Research Analyst and Founder of Livelong Wealth, noted that macroeconomic concerns, coupled with global volatility, were weighing heavily on investor sentiment.

Ajit Mishra, SVP (Research) at Religare Broking, said persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows and a weakening rupee, which fell 20 paise to a record low of 92.45 against the US dollar, further compounded the selling pressure.

Sector-wise, metals and autos were the worst hit . Among Sensex constituents, Larsen & Toubro tumbled 7.52 per cent , followed by Tata Steel, SBI, Bharat Electronics, Maruti and UltraTech Cement. Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel were among the few gainers. The BSE midcap index fell 2.87 per cent and smallcap index 2.48 per cent, while sectoral indices such as Metal (-4.83%), Industrials (-4.15%), Commodities (-4.01%), PSU Bank (-3.73%) and Auto (-3.27%) also declined sharply.

Globally, Asian markets including Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s Kospi, China’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended lower, while European markets traded in negative territory. Wall Street had closed sharply lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite down 1.78 per cent, Dow Jones -1.56 per cent and S&P 500 -1.52 per cent.

Exchange data showed FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 7,049.87 crore , while Domestic Institutional Investors bought shares worth Rs 7,449.77 crore, providing some support. On a weekly basis, the Sensex dropped 4,354.98 points (5.51%) and the Nifty fell 1,299.35 points (5.31%), with the Sensex losing 6,723.27 points (8.27%) since February 27.

Experts warn that volatile crude prices, rising inflation, and geopolitical tensions could continue to influence market direction in the near term.