Indian Stock Markets Plummet Amid Trump’s West Asia Comments
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Mumbai, April 2 (NationPress) The Indian stock market witnessed a significant drop on Thursday, with major equity indices falling by over 1 percent due to escalating tensions in the West Asia region.
The Sensex began trading at 72,262, down by 872 points, or 1.19 percent, while the Nifty index decreased by 1.31 percent, approximately 300 points, opening at 22,383.40. As trading continued in the early hours, both indices experienced further declines.
All sectors started off in negative territory, with banking, real estate, chemicals, automotive, metals, and healthcare emerging as the biggest losers. Key laggards in the Nifty 50 included Sun Pharma, IndiGo, Asian Paints, Shriram Finance, Larsen and Toubro, Axis Bank, Eternal, and Trent.
Market sentiment took a hit after US President Donald Trump refrained from providing a definitive plan to resolve the ongoing conflict in West Asia amidst new threats.
Experts in the market maintain that the short-term outlook remains slightly optimistic, supported by declining crude oil prices, better geopolitical signals, and consistent inflows from domestic institutional investors.
“Nevertheless, fluctuations are expected in the market, driven by various events, particularly focusing on crude oil price movements, foreign institutional investor (FII) trends, and ongoing developments in West Asia,” they noted.
The Indian rupee faced downward pressure but showed signs of stabilizing, buoyed by improving global risk perceptions.
In the US, the previous night saw Wall Street closing positively, with the S&P 500 rising by 0.72 percent (46.80 points) and the Nasdaq increasing by about 1 percent (250 points).
Asian markets, however, traded in the negative zone, with major indices like the Nikkei, Hang Seng, and KOSPI dropping by up to 3 percent.
Oil prices saw a rebound, with Brent crude futures climbing as much as 5.24 percent to $106.47 per barrel, while US WTI futures rose by 4.5 percent to $104.64 as of 8:52 AM.
On the previous day, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the Indian equity market, unloading shares worth ₹8,331 crores, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) supported the market by purchasing equities worth ₹7,171.80 crores.