India Stock Market Plunges Amid Iran-US Conflict Tensions

The Indian stock market indices Sensex and Nifty plummeted sharply on opening Wednesday in response to escalating tensions between Iran and the US. The Sensex dropped nearly 700 points in the first minute, while the Nifty declined by over 200 points.

In pre-opening trade, the Sensex was down by more than 540 points at 76,397.24, with the Nifty down over 203 points at 23,852.05. Only Sunpharma showed a gain among the 30 Sensex firms.

Oil prices surged to a near-six-week high after the US and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, intensifying the Middle East conflict and renewing concerns over inflation. Brent crude rose two per cent to $96.6 a barrel, triggering a drop in Asian markets and lifting global bond yields on worries of a near-term US rate hike.