Indian Stocks Slide for Sixth Day as Crude Prices Reach New Heights
The Indian stock market continued its decline for the sixth consecutive day due to rising crude oil prices and escalating tensions in West Asia. The Sensex, a key benchmark index, fell by 278.32 points to reach 77,450.64. The Nifty, another major index, dropped by 57.65 points to settle at 24,230.45.
The BSE Sensex pack saw Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, and InterGlobe Aviation among the significant losers. On the other hand, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Maruti, and Axis Bank performed well.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, attributed the market's decline to two key factors: Brent crude's spike above $91 per barrel due to US-Iran tensions, and the rise in US 10-year bond yield to 4.73 percent, which is negative for foreign institutional investor inflows.
Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research at Axis Direct, stated that elevated crude prices kept sentiment guarded, leading to a cautious Wall Street performance on Monday.