The Indian stock market on Monday continued its slide amid concerns relating to the conflict in West Asia.
The benchmark Sensex index ended the day about 1,400 points, or 1.8%, lower. The Nifty fell by 1.7% to close the session just above the 24,000-mark.
The market had begun to slide on March 2 after the conflict began.
The India VIX index, which measures volatility in the market, spiked more than 17.5% on Monday.
Major Asian stock indices also fell on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 1.3% lower. While Japan’s Nikkei tanked 5.2%, South Korea’s Kospi fell 5.9%.
Rupee plunges
The Indian rupee also weakened on Monday to 92.3 against the US dollar. The currency had closed at 91.7 on Friday.
This came as the global oil prices crossed the $100 per barrel-mark on Monday, the highest since July 2022.
The price of benchmark Brent crude jumped to $116 per barrel during the day, before falling to about $104. The price was about $72.8 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started.
Global oil prices have risen by about 50% since Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28. The escalating tensions have raised fears of disruption to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow waterbody connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. About 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption traverses the maritime chokepoint.
The conflict in West Asia began after Israel and the United States launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government. Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.
The joint attacks by Israel and the US on Iran came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.
Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
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