Markets extend losses for 2nd day on soaring crude prices, West Asia turmoil; Sensex tanks 800 pts

Benchmark equity indices ended with deep cuts on Thursday, with the Sensex tumbling over 800 points amid a sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the heightening crisis in West Asia.

Besides, sluggish global market trends, weakness in the rupee and persistent foreign capital outflows also rattled investors’ sentiment, analysts said.The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 829.29 points, or 1.08 per cent, to settle at 76,034.42. During the day, it plunged 992.53 points or 1.29 per cent to 75,871.18.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 227.70 points, or 0.95 per cent, to close at 23,639.15. Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest loser among the Sensex constituents, dropping 4.23 per cent, followed by Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement and Trent.

In contrast, NTPC, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries were the winners. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 4.78 per cent to $96.47 per barrel.

“Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to dampen global risk appetite, as fresh attacks on oil-shipping vessels have pushed crude prices closer to USD 100 per barrel, intensifying concerns over inflation and gas supply constraints,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended lower.European markets were quoting in negative territory.The US market ended mostly lower on Wednesday.The rupee recovered from record-low levels and settled with a loss of 16 paise at 92.17 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday.          

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth INR 6,267.31 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought stocks worth INR 4,965.53 crore.On Wednesday, the Sensex tumbled 1,342.27 points or 1.72 per cent to settle at 76,863.71. The Nifty tanked 394.75 points or 1.63 per cent to end at 23,866.85.