Amid the ongoing war between the US and Iran and turmoil in the Middle East, the Indian stock market witnessed a huge fall on Friday, the last trading day of the week. Both the major indices, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 saw a sharp fall. BSE Sensex closed at 78,918.90, down a whopping 1,097 points (1.37%), while NSE Nifty 50 also fell 315.45 points (1.27%) at 24,450.45.
According to market capitalization, investors suffered a loss of about ₹3 lakh crore. The main reasons behind this decline are believed to be rising crude oil prices, weak signals from foreign markets and heavy profit-booking by investors.
Last weekend, the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After this, Iran retaliated and took action against the Gulf countries, which disrupted the supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Sharp increase in crude oil prices
Crude oil prices rose above $80 per barrel following rising tensions in West Asia. However, Brent crude fell 2.4% to $83.21 a barrel in futures trade on Friday morning. WTI crude fell 3% to $78.54 a barrel.
US futures
The US stock market declined this week due to the Iran war and rising oil prices. After that, US futures remained largely flat on Friday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 103 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures also rose 0.1%.