Sensex trades lower, 589 points down amid escalating Middle East Conflict

Indian equity indices were trading the deep red on Thursday following weak global cues amid escalating tension in the Middle East and worries over full-fledged war between Iran and Israel.

At 9.38 a.m., Sensex was down 589 points or 0.69 per cent at 83,686 and Nifty was down 174 points or 0.68 per cent at 25,622. In the early trading hour, broader market trends remained weak. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 256 shares were in the green and 1,188 shares were in the red.

Twenty-eight out of 30 Sensex stocks were trading in the red. Wipro, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance, Nestle, ICICI Bank, Titan, TCS, L&T, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were the top losers.

Only JSW Steel and Tata Steel were in the green. Among the sectoral indices, Auto, FMCG, realty, media, energy and pvt bank were major gainers. Only the metal index was in the green.

Mixed trading is taking place in Asian markets. Tokyo and Taipei are in green, while Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul and Jakarta are in red. In the US, stock markets closed with modest gains on Wednesday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose slightly by 0.08 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up by 0.01 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively.

According to the market experts, the situation will change if Israel attacks any oil installations in Iran which will trigger a huge spike in crude. If it happens, it can turn out to be more damaging for oil importers like India.

Therefore, investors should watch the emerging situation very closely. A partial switch in portfolios to defensives like Pharma and FMCG also can be thought of. The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling as they sold equities worth Rs 5,579 crore on October 1, while domestic institutional investors extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 4,609 crore on the same day.

(With inputs from IANS)