- Sensex and Nifty 50 fell due to Middle East conflict and rising crude prices
- Nifty 50 dropped 0.67% to 23,477.55 and Sensex lost 0.81% to 74,968.99 by 9:50 am
- IT sector declined 2.82%, followed by Media, Realty, Auto, and Financial Services
Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 are trading lower on Wednesday as a fresh escalation in the Middle East conflict had Brent crude flirting with $100 per barrel, a pain point for the world's third-largest crude oil importer.
The Nifty 50 fell as much as 0.67% to 23,477.55 and the BSE Sensex lost 0.81% to trade at 74,968.99 as of 9:50 am.
Most sectors are trading in the red, with IT down 2.8%, followed by Media and Realty.
Three factors are weighing on domestic equities: rising crude oil prices amid escalating US-Iran tensions, weakness across key sectors, and continuing selling pressure in the benchmarks.
Rising Crude Prices
Brent crude moved closer to $100 a barrel as fresh US strikes on Iranian oil tankers near the strategic Kharg Island export hub heightened concerns over further disruptions to Middle East supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent climbed to around $99 a barrel, its highest level in weeks, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $95. The latest move came after US Central Command said American forces destroyed five Iranian crude carriers following two ballistic-missile attacks by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a US Navy warship. One of the vessels, the Derya, was struck near Kharg Island.
Sectoral Weakness
Sectoral indices were largely in the red in early trade on Wednesday.
As of 10 am, Nifty IT was the worst-performing sector, plunging 2.82%, followed by Nifty Media (-1.01%), Nifty Realty (-0.85%), Nifty Auto (-0.84%) and Nifty Financial Services (-0.84%). Nifty FMCG declined 0.78%, while Nifty India Defence, Nifty Bank, Nifty Rural and Nifty Consumption fell 0.55%, 0.54%, 0.52% and 0.48%, respectively.
Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma slipped 0.26% and 0.17%, while Nifty Oil & Gas edged up 0.04%. Among gainers, Nifty Metal rose 0.62% and Nifty Energy emerged as the top-performing sector, gaining 0.96%.
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