Indian benchmark indices opened sharply lower on Friday amid rising geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran. Heavy selling pressure was witnessed across the Auto, IT, Financial Services, and PSU Bank sectors during early trade.
By 9:33 AM, the Sensex had dropped 896.5 points or 1.10% to trade at 80,795.44, while the Nifty slipped 278.5 points or 1.12% to 24,609.70.
The Nifty Bank index was down 633.80 points or 1.13% at 55,448.75. The Nifty Midcap 100 dropped 603.90 points or 1.03% to 57,836.95, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 192.75 points or 1.04% to 18,272.30.
Market analysts warned that the economic repercussions of the Israeli strikes could deepen if the conflict prolongs. Israel has already announced that the operation may continue for several days.
"The market's trajectory will largely depend on the duration of the conflict. In the short term, investors are expected to adopt a risk-off approach. Sectors heavily reliant on oil derivatives&mdash;such as aviation, paints, adhesives, and tyres&mdash;are likely to face pressure. On the other hand, oil producers like ONGC and Oil India may remain resilient," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The Nifty had already fallen over 1% in the previous session due to growing Middle East tensions. As of this morning, Israel's pre-emptive strikes on Iran have led to widespread risk aversion across global markets.
"Technically, we had been flagging concerns with Wednesday&rsquo;s 'buyer rejection' candle, especially after the formation of the bearish 'upside gap two crows' pattern earlier in the week&mdash;both of which signaled caution," noted Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities.
Among the top laggards in the Sensex were Tata Motors, L&amp;T, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI, Titan, and Infosys.
Asian markets, including Hong Kong, Bangkok, Jakarta, Japan, Seoul, and China, were also trading in negative territory.
In contrast, US markets closed higher in the previous session. The Dow Jones rose 101.85 points to 42,967.62, the S&amp;P 500 gained 23.02 points to end at 6,045.26, and the Nasdaq added 46.61 points to finish at 19,662.49.
On the institutional front, foreign investors continued their selling streak, offloading equities worth ₹3,831.42 crore on June 12. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors remained net buyers, purchasing equities worth ₹9,393.85 crore. Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed.

Sensex dives 896 pts; auto, IT, PSU banks hit amid fears of prolonged Middle East conflict

Markets Sink as Israel-Iran Tensions Escalate

Sensex dives 896 pts; auto, IT, PSU banks hit amid fears of prolonged Middle East conflict

June 13, 2025 | 15:33 IST

Leave a Comment :