Sensex, Nifty Slide Further Due to Soaring Crude Oil Prices

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended in the negative terrain for the third session in a row on Tuesday as financial and auto stocks faced high selling pressure, while a constant rise in crude oil prices reignited macro worries.

In a highly volatile session, the BSE Sensex hit a high of 38,832.61 and a low of 38,518.26. After swinging over 300 points, the 30-share index settled 80.30 points, or 0.21 per cent, lower at 38,564.88.

The broader NSE Nifty too slipped 18.50 points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 11,575.95. It also saw an intra-day movement of 81.50 points.

In the Sensex pack, Maruti was the biggest loser, shedding 3.60 per cent. Other major laggards were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp and NTPC – ending up to 2.33 per cent lower.

On the other hand, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Infosys, ITC, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and HUL rose as much as 3.93 per cent.

Investor sentiment took a beating after US President Donald Trump on Monday decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran’s top export commodity. This move could have implications on India’s energy security, experts said.

Global benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.62 per cent higher at USD 74.50 per barrel after The rupee, meanwhile, weakened by 7 paise to 69.74 against the US dollar intra-day.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth Rs 73.08 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 68.16 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in China, South Korea and Japan ended on a choppy note. After a long Easter weekend, European equities started off on Tuesday on a mixed note.