(Bloomberg) -- India's benchmark stock index fell, clocking its worst week in four, after a flare-up in Middle East tensions clipped the risk-on sentiment in Asian markets on Friday.
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.4% to 41,464.61 at the close in Mumbai, bringing the gauge down 0.3% for the week. The NSE Nifty 50 Index slid 0.5%, after closing at a record high on Thursday.
Most markets in Asia were in the red after a top Iranian commander was killed in a U.S. airstrike. Brent crude jumped as much as 4.4% to $69.16 a barrel. India is one of the world's largest crude oil importers.
Investors continue to assess the impact of Reserve Bank of India's open market operations and fiscal spending in an economy that's growing at its slowest pace since 2013. The Sensex had a positive January in six out of the last 10 years.
Read: RBI to Buy, Sell Another INR100B of Bonds Under Operation Twist
Strategist View
- “Oil is likely to be on the boil, and that's bad for oil-importing countries with large trade and current account deficits like India,” said Ajay Bodke, chief executive officer of portfolio management services at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. “Risk aversion would spike sharply.”
- The flare-up in the Middle East is the “key reason for the drop in the market today,” and “there could be some profit booking after the rally we have seen so far,” said Chokkalingam G, founder of Equinomics Research & Advisory Pvt.
The Numbers
- Sixteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. fell, led by a gauge of power companies
- HDFC Bank Ltd. was the biggest drag on the index while Asian Paints Ltd. fell the most, declining 2.2%
- Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. contributed the most to the index advance, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. posted the largest gain, rising 2.1%
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--With assistance from Ronojoy Mazumdar.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ishika Mookerjee in Singapore at imookerjee@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lianting Tu at ltu4@bloomberg.net, Anto Antony
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