Indian Stock Markets End Lower as US-Iran Tensions Weigh on Investor Sentiment

Indian stock markets ended the session in negative territory as escalating tensions between the United States and Iran weighed on investor sentiment. The expiry of an agreement reached in June, along with tougher US economic sanctions against Iran and Tehran’s counter-warnings, raised concerns over geopolitical stability in West Asia. The uncertainty pushed investors towards caution, with PSU banking stocks among the major losers.

The Sensex opened at 77,629.56, compared with the previous close of 77,540.83, but soon slipped into negative territory. It touched an intraday low of 77,201.66 before closing 171.72 points lower at 77,369.11. The Nifty declined 32.95 points to settle at 24,219.05. Among Sensex constituents, Adani Ports, BEL, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and Trent were among the major decliners, while Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharma ended higher. The rupee stood at ₹95.74 against the US dollar. Brent crude was trading around $92.73 a barrel, while gold stood at about $4,646 an ounce.