Indian equities opened weaker on Monday as renewed US–Iran hostilities, elevated crude oil prices, and resurgent bets on a US interest-rate hike pushed the Sensex and Nifty to fresh intraday lows in the morning session.
The Sensex slipped to 76,075 at its low, losing about 440 points from Friday's close, while the Nifty eased to 23,763, down roughly 135 points in the same window.
Much of the pressure came from the oil market, where Brent crude was trading close to $97 a barrel, extending its recent climb much to the worry of India, a key crude importer.
The latest spike in crude came at the heels of an escalation in US–Iran tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. Moreover, an emerging market like India became less attractive for foreign investors after better-than-expected US jobs data revived hopes of the US Federal Reserve potentially raising rates at its mid-September meeting.
Given the US market influence, IT services stocks led the morning declines, with heavyweights such as Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech under pressure as the sector index fell about 2 per cent.
However, telecom, defence, and infrastructure stocks, especially Bharti Airtel, Bharat Electronics, and Larsen & Toubro, bucked the trend in early trade.
Foreign institutional investors added to the cautious tone by offloading equities worth a little over ₹3,100 crore on Friday, even as domestic flows helped cushion the fall.
Broader small-cap and mid-cap indices also slipped slightly.
Adding to the overall redness were the shares of Zee Entertainment, which extended losses after an investigation agency filed a case naming Essel Group Chair Subhash Chandra involving the 2022 insolvency filing by Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (Sammaan Capital).
PVR Inox also slid sharply following reports of internal governance concerns at the multiplex operator.
