Nifty Falls For 7th Day, Sensex Down 326 Points As Rising Crude Oil Prices Unnerve Investors

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower on Wednesday as elevated crude oil prices amid a lack of a diplomatic resolution following the end of the US-Iran ceasefire dented investor sentiment.

Falling for the fourth consecutive day, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 325.78 points, or 0.42%, to settle at 76,909.68. During the day, it dropped 412.57 points, or 0.53%, to 76,822.89. In the last four days, the benchmark has lost 1,170.28 points, or 1.49%.

Extending its losses to the seventh day, the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 76.60 points, or 0.32%, to end at 24,078.30. It has tumbled 505.5 points, or 2%, in the last seven sessions.

The expiry of the temporary 60-day US-Iran ceasefire without any meaningful diplomatic breakthrough has renewed concerns over a prolonged disruption to energy supplies, driving crude oil prices higher, an expert said.

From the Sensex pack, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries were among the major laggards.

HCL Tech, Eternal, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sun Pharma were among the winners.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.04% to $91.97 per barrel.

"Markets turned cautious ahead of the release of the US FOMC minutes, as investors remained concerned that the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation may continue. The lack of a diplomatic resolution following the end of the US-Iran ceasefire kept crude oil prices and bond yields elevated, strengthening risk-off sentiment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd.

Broader markets also declined as the BSE SmallCap Select index dropped 0.73% and MidCap Select index by 0.01%.

Among sectoral indices, Power lost 1.69%, followed by Capital Goods (1.59%), Utilities (1.25%), Industrials (1.15%), Hospitals (0.89%), Energy (0.68%) and Commodities (0.62%).

Housing Finance climbed 0.58%, Focused IT (0.33%), IT (0.27%) and MidSmall Private Banks (0.03%).

"Indian equity markets extended their losing streak to a seventh consecutive session on Wednesday as weakness across global equities spilled over into domestic trading, with higher bond yields, elevated crude oil prices and a sharp correction in technology shares undermining investor confidence," Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm, said.

Asian markets endured one of their weakest sessions in recent months. South Korea's Kospi plunged nearly 6%, triggering a trading curb, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell more than 3% as the recent technology-led rally reversed sharply under pressure from rising global bond yields and heavy selling in semiconductor stocks, he added.

South Korea's Kospi tanked 5.80%. Japan's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai's SSE Composite index also ended significantly lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled marginally higher.

Markets in Europe were trading in negative territory. US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,651.53 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

On Tuesday, the Sensex was down 492.70 points, or 0.63%, to settle at 77,235.46. The Nifty declined for the sixth day, sliding 132.75 points, or 0.55%, to end at 24,154.90.