Mumbai— Indian stock markets ended lower on Tuesday amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and renewed concerns over inflation triggered by a spike in global crude oil prices.
Investors remained cautious following a stern warning from U.S. President Donald Trump to Iran, urging Tehran to reconsider its stance on nuclear negotiations amid escalating regional conflict.
Both benchmark indices opened flat and briefly moved higher in early trade, but selling pressure intensified through the session. The BSE Sensex declined by 212.85 points to close at 81,583.30, after hitting an intraday low of 81,427. The NSE Nifty also fell, shedding 93.10 points to finish at 24,853.40.
“The benchmark equity index experienced moderate losses amid the rising risk of conflict escalation in the Middle East ahead of the upcoming FOMC meeting,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. “This uncertainty also pushed Brent crude prices higher — a negative for India given its reliance on oil imports, which could hamper earnings growth.”
The broader market mirrored the decline, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices falling 0.79 percent and 0.82 percent, respectively.
Sector-wise, the information technology segment was the only one to end in positive territory. All other sectors saw widespread selling. Pharma and metal stocks were among the hardest hit, with the Nifty Pharma index down 1.89 percent and the metal index falling 1.43 percent. Sectors such as oil and gas, realty, auto, FMCG, energy, media, and consumer durables also logged losses of up to 1 percent.
Among the 30 Sensex constituents, major drags included Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Eicher Motors, and Nestle India.
On the upside, stocks like Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, TCS, and HCL Tech managed modest gains, lending limited support to the broader market.
Sundar Kewat, an analyst at Ashika Institutional Equity, noted that India’s vulnerability to oil price shocks — as the world’s second-largest crude importer — continues to stoke inflation concerns, adding pressure to equities.
“Investors are now turning their attention to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision scheduled for Wednesday, which could significantly influence global markets and shape investor sentiment in the near term,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee weakened by 18 paise to close at 86.22 against the U.S. dollar, weighed down by rising geopolitical risk and broader market uncertainty. (Source: IANS)
