Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended their slide in early Friday trade, tumbling nearly 1% as West Asia conflict and surging oil prices sour investor sentiment. Heavy global selling, FII outflows of Rs 7,050 crore, and rupee weakness fueled the bearish storm—Sensex shed 708 points to 75,326; Nifty dropped 222 to 23,417.
Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, IndiGo, UltraTech, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra led losses; Power Grid, HUL, ITC, Bajaj Finserv bucked the trend. Brent crude edged up to $100.5/bbl, dragging Asian peers like Kospi, Nikkei lower after Wall Street’s sharp rout.
“Heightened West Asia uncertainty keeps markets in uncharted waters—FII selling pressures even blue-chips,” warns VK Vijayakumar, Geojit Investments. After Thursday’s 1% drop (Sensex 76,034; Nifty 23,639), rebound looks distant.
