Middle East turmoil roils bourses

Fresh Bout Of Unrest

♦ Sensex slumps 483.24 pts or 0.73% to 65,512.39

♦ Nifty declined 141.15 pts or 0.72% to 19,512.35

♦ Only 3 Sensex stocks traded in the green

♦ 43 of Nifty-50 stocks closing in the red

♦ M&M, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, SBI, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan were laggards

♦ FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs90.29 cr

♦ Spreading tensions in Middle East and surging crude oil prices dampened investor sentiment

Mumbai: Equity benchmark index Sensex tumbled nearly 500 points on Monday as investors offloaded finance, banking and energy stocks amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and surging crude oil prices overseas. Investors stayed on the sidelines and refrained from taking risks amid uncertainty due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, analysts said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 483.24 points or 0.73 per cent to settle at 65,512.39. The Nifty declined 141.15 points or 0.72 per cent to end at 19,512.35. Only three Sensex stocks settled in the green, while the Nifty-50 saw its 43 scrips closing in the red.

“Investors dumped equity assets as they turned risk off on concerns that a faceoff between Israel and Hamas could further deteriorate the global economy already reeling under higher interest rates and stubbornly high inflation. There are concerns that since most of the oil-producing nations are close to the conflict zone, a prolonged war could trigger an upsurge in international crude oil prices. With a fresh surge in crude oil prices, higher oil import bills going ahead would stoke domestic inflation and prompt the central bank to take a hawkish stance,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

“Financials and consumer discretionary sectors underperformed due to concerns regarding earnings vulnerability if inflation continues to rise. Conversely, the IT sector is displaying signs of returning to normalcy.