Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The prolonged war in West Asia (Middle East) because of uncertainties of talks between the US-Israel duo and Iran dragged Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 over two percent on Friday.
The indices snapped a two-day gaining streak and ended sharply down as mixed signals from the US and Iran about the ongoing talks unnerved investors. The Nifty50 ended 2.09 percent down (or 486.85 points) to settle at 22,819.60, and Sensex closed 2.25 percent down (1,690.25 points) at 73,583.22.
Broader markets outshone the benchmark indices. The Nifty MidCap and the SmallCap indices ended 2.24 percent and 1.88 percent down, respectively.
Sector-wise, the PSU Banks emerged as the top loser. The Nifty Realty and the Nifty Auto also underperformed.
However, the Nifty IT emerged as the best-performing sectoral index with the least losses.
The loss was in tandem with a weak trend in global peers, as the US-Iran conflict continues to be the crucial overhang for markets, raising doubts about a de-escalation of the war.
Crude oil prices staying above the USD 100 per barrel mark, the Indian rupee’s free fall and unabated foreign fund outflows also added to the gloom.
The rupee tanked 86 paise to close at yet another all-time low of 94.82 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex, intraday, plunged 1,739.04 points, (2.31 percent), to 73,534.41. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 486.85 points, (2.09 percent), to end at 22,819.60.
From the 30-Sensex firms, Reliance Industries dropped the most by 4.55 percent, followed by InterGlobe Aviation, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Eternal and HDFC Bank.
In contrast, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel and Power Grid were the gainers. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.72 percent to USD 109.9 per barrel.