Indian shares fell sharply on Wednesday as renewed tensions in the Gulf region heightened concerns over potential disruptions to global oil supplies.
Brent crude surged toward $100 a barrel after Iran fired a series of missiles at U.S. military sites in Jordan and issued warnings to tanker crews in Bahraini and Kuwaiti waters to abandon their vessels immediately.
The strikes followed a U.S. operation that destroyed five Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island, a key crude export terminal, after Iran allegedly attempted to hit a U.S. warship with ballistic missiles on two separate occasions.
Rising global bond yields also pressured markets ahead of this week’s pivotal U.S. inflation data, which could shape expectations for a possible Federal Reserve rate hike at the September 15‑16 meeting.
The benchmark 30‑share BSE Sensex was down 620 points, or 0.8 percent, at 74,958 while the NSE Nifty index dropped 163 points, or 0.7 percent, to 23,473.
Information technology shares spearheaded the decline, with TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Infosys falling 3‑4 percent. Chipmaker stocks elsewhere in Asia continued to rise on persistent optimism surrounding artificial intelligence.
Other notable decliners included Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC Bank, each losing 1‑2 percent. Fusion Finance slipped 2.2 percent following the transfer of a stressed loan worth Rs. 35.20 crore to an Asset Reconstruction Company.
Enviro Infra Engineers jumped roughly 6 percent after securing a Rs. 189.99‑crore wind EPC contract from Tata Power Renewable Energy.
NLC India rose 1 percent after winning a 200‑MW wind project.
Innovision surged 12 percent following the award of a Rs. 24.53‑crore contract from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
