Indian shares declined for a second consecutive session as weaker global cues, rising crude oil prices, and escalating geopolitical tensions dampened investor sentiment, with major indices slipping amid cautious trading and energy concerns.
Indian shares fell for a second straight session as weaker global cues and firmer crude prices weighed on sentiment. The Sensex ended down 492.70 points, or 0.63%, at 77,235.46, while the Nifty slipped 132.75 points, or 0.55%, to 24,154.90. Trading was soft from the open and the losses widened through the day as investors turned cautious over the outlook for inflation and imported energy costs.
The broader mood across Asian markets was mixed, but domestic investors had little to cheer as selling dominated most large-cap names. Among the Sensex constituents, Asian Paints and Infosys were hit particularly hard, each falling more than 2%. HCLTech, Bharti Airtel and TCS also came under pressure. A handful of stocks, including Axis Bank, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and Larsen & Toubro, helped limit the damage.
Market anxiety has been building in recent weeks as geopolitical tensions have intensified and oil prices have moved higher. Moneycontrol reported earlier in the month that a sharper sell-off in Indian equities was driven by a spike in crude, with Brent climbing above $100 a barrel and dragging down autos, private banks and other rate-sensitive sectors. On another volatile day, the publication said the Sensex trimmed part of its losses after opening sharply lower, but the market still closed deep in the red as the India VIX, a gauge of expected volatility, jumped more than 25%.
The latest decline also fits a broader pattern of nervous trading, with investors repeatedly reacting to developments in West Asia and the knock-on effect for energy imports. When conflict concerns escalated further, Moneycontrol reported that the Sensex suffered a far steeper fall, while mid-cap and small-cap shares were hit even harder than large caps. That left traders focused not just on earnings, but on whether higher oil prices could squeeze corporate margins and renew worries about inflation, fiscal pressure and foreign fund flows.
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