Indian equities extended their losing streak into a third straight session on Thursday, as unresolved tensions over the Strait of Hormuz kept crude oil prices elevated and rattled investor sentiment.
The Sensex tumbled as much as 300 points from Wednesday’s close to touch a morning low of 77,665.89, while the Nifty slid around 125 points from its previous close to hit an intraday low of 24,311.40. Both indices, however, pared some of the losses by noon, suggesting sentiment was stabilising even as the broader mood remained cautious.
The primary trigger was oil. Brent crude hovered near US$88 a barrel, with talks between Iran and the United States on a permanent end to the Gulf conflict showing no progress, keeping the geopolitical risk premium firmly in place for India. Fourteen of sixteen major sectors were trading lower in the morning, with financials and IT stocks among the weakest performers, even as small‑cap stocks bucked the trend with modest gains.
Tata Group shares, which had come under selling pressure a day earlier after chairman N. Chandrasekaran said he would not seek reappointment, steadied on Thursday. Tata Motors continued to be the silver lining for the group, jumping as much as 6 per cent to an intraday high of ₹485 a share on the NSE after the company reported stronger quarterly profit and flagged firm demand ahead.
Reliance Industries fell in the morning after MSCI trimmed the stock’s weight in a key global index, while Titan, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the opening session’s laggards.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets such as South Korea’s Kospi rallied strongly, buoyed by a benign US inflation print that eased concerns over further Federal Reserve tightening.
Back home, retail inflation data released yesterday revealed consumer prices accelerating to 4.45 per cent in July. This added to the overall negative sentiment we saw in the morning. Now, the markets seem to be on a correcting run.
