Sensex Plunges 649 Points as Oil Surges and Middle East Tensions Escalate

Indian equity benchmarks crashed on Friday, with the BSE Sensex down 649.42 points or 0.87% at 74,253.17 and the Nifty 50 tumbling to 23,243.55, down 234.25 points or 1%, as of 9:41 AM.

The sudden drop comes after a tentative recovery on Thursday, when markets had snapped a losing streak.

OPEC basket price jumped 4.46% to $112.25 and Brent Crude was up 0.2% at $107.9 as deepening concern over supply disruptions drove oil prices higher.