Sensex Sheds 460 Points, Nifty Falls 124 as Crude Oil Surges Above USD 112

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty extended their losses for a third consecutive session on Thursday, as rising crude oil prices amid escalating West Asia tensions and weak global cues dampened investor sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 460.30 points, or 0.62 per cent, to close at 73,249.39. During the session, it plunged 704.58 points, or 0.95 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 73,005.11. The NSE Nifty declined 123.70 points, or 0.54 per cent, to settle at 22,687.65. The index touched an intraday low of 22,554.85 after dropping 256.5 points, or 1.12 per cent.

Among Sensex constituents, Reliance Industries, Eternal, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Trent, Asian Paints, Infosys, ITC, Bharat Electronics, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Larsen & Toubro were among the major laggards. Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharmaceuticals and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 3 per cent to trade above USD 112 per barrel, intensifying concerns over inflation and its impact on economic growth.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Ltd, said renewed escalation in West Asia pushed crude prices higher, while the rupee weakened during the session, adding to market pressure. An attempted recovery led by banking stocks failed to sustain at higher levels, he added. Rising domestic bond yields also prompted renewed scrutiny of equity valuations, while mid-cap and small-cap stocks underperformed large-cap shares.

Asian markets ended sharply lower. South Korea's Kospi declined 3.52 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 3.03 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.40 per cent and Shanghai's SSE Composite lost 1.48 per cent. European markets were trading lower, while US markets had ended higher on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 1,022.32 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,614.32 crore. On Wednesday, the Sensex had declined 143.21 points and the Nifty had lost 77.60 points.