Indian Markets Plunge Amid Rising Crude Oil Prices and Geopolitical Uncertainties

Markets in India experienced a decline on Wednesday morning amid persistent geopolitical uncertainties and rising crude oil prices. The Sensex fell by 166.19 points to 77,070.93, while the Nifty dropped 59 points to 24,096.75.

The expiry of the temporary 60-day US-Iran ceasefire has renewed concerns over a prolonged disruption to energy supplies, driving crude oil prices higher and pushing long-term US Treasury yields to multi-year highs. Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, attributed this development to 'a broad risk-off mood across global financial markets'.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down with Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, Power Grid and Mahindra & Mahindra being among the major laggards. However, HCL Tech, Infosys, Eternal, Sun Pharma and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the winners.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, stated that the ongoing weakness in the market is driven mainly by 'two factors: one, the rising crude prices, and two, appreciating bond yields globally'. Foreign Institutional Investors bought equities worth Rs 1,651.53 crore on Tuesday.