Indian shares tumble at open as Mideast war drives oil spike
March 9 (Reuters) – Indian shares fell sharply at the open on Monday as higher crude oil prices increased pressure on the Asian nation’s economy, raising inflation concerns and driving up import costs in the world’s third-largest oil importer.
Oil prices rose nearly 26% in early trading, reaching their highest level since July 2022.
Nifty 50 index lost 2.38 percent to 23,868.05, and BSE Sensex lost 2.36 percent to 77,056.75 points.
All 16 major sectors lost money at the opening. Broader small- and medium-sized companies fell about 1.8% each.
Leading private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank fell 3.7% and 3.1% respectively, while oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries lost 2.1%.
Other Asian stocks fell 4.7%, while Wall Street and European futures also retreated as the inflationary shock from rising crude oil prices threatened to harden or drive up interest rates around the world. Safe haven demand kept the US dollar firm afloat. [MKTS/GLOB]
Iraq and Kuwait began cutting oil production, in addition to Qatar’s earlier liquefied natural gas cuts, as the war blocked shipments from the Middle East.
Brent crude rose 26.4 per cent to $117.16 per barrel and rose 23 per cent to $114.08 as of 09:15 IST. [O/R]
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran, Vivek Kumar M in Mumbai and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Ronojoy Mazumdar)
