Mumbai, Sep 28: Indian stock markets came under renewed pressure on Monday as rising crude oil prices and heightened geopolitical uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment. The weakness came after the Sensex and Nifty recorded their longest weekly losing streak since 2020.
The Nifty 50 opened 0.33 per cent lower at 23,064.90, while the BSE Sensex declined 0.22 per cent to 73,734.83 at 9:15 a.m. The selling intensified soon after the opening, with both benchmarks falling more than 1 per cent around 9:45 a.m.
The Nifty also slipped below the 22,900 mark, a level it had not breached since April 7, highlighting the continued pressure on domestic equities.
The latest decline was largely linked to higher crude oil prices amid uncertainty surrounding efforts to ease tensions involving the US and Iran. US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian proposal linked to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the fighting. Iran, meanwhile, reiterated that diplomacy remained the way forward to resolve the conflict involving the US and Israel.
The developments have added to concerns in oil-importing economies such as India. Brent crude futures rose around 2 per cent to nearly $106.50 a barrel, raising concerns over the impact of higher energy costs on India’s import bill, inflation and corporate profitability.
India imports a large share of its crude oil requirements, making global oil prices an important factor for the domestic economy and financial markets. A prolonged rise in crude prices could increase pressure on businesses through higher input and transportation costs while also affecting the country’s external balance.
Market weakness was broad-based, with 14 of the 16 major sectoral indices trading lower. Small-cap and mid-cap indices also declined around 0.2 per cent each, indicating that the pressure was not limited to large-cap stocks.
Asian markets were also subdued, with regional equities declining around 0.2 per cent amid continued uncertainty over global trade, geopolitics and energy prices.
The latest market movement comes at a time when investors are already closely tracking foreign fund flows, global bond yields, crude oil prices and the outlook for corporate earnings. With the Nifty moving below a key technical level, market participants are likely to remain cautious as they assess the impact of global developments on India’s growth and inflation outlook.
For India, the trajectory of crude oil prices will remain particularly important in the coming sessions, given its potential impact on inflation, the rupee, corporate margins and overall market sentiment.
