Sensex plunges nearly 700 points, Nifty falls 200 as Iran-US conflict rattles markets

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty plunged in early trade on Wednesday as escalating tensions between the United States and Iran triggered a sharp sell-off across Asian markets and sent oil prices soaring.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell nearly 700 points within the first minute of trading, while the NSE Nifty dropped around 200 points. In pre-opening trade, the Sensex was down more than 540 points at 76,397.24, while the Nifty fell over 203 points to 23,852.05.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, Sun Pharma was the only stock trading in positive territory at the open.

The sharp decline came after the US and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, marking a major escalation in the Middle East conflict and raising fresh concerns about inflation, crude prices and global economic growth.

Oil prices surged to a near six-week high following the attacks. Brent crude jumped around 2% to $96.60 a barrel, putting further pressure on Asian equities and pushing global bond yields higher amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve could delay rate cuts or potentially consider a near-term rate hike.

GIFT Nifty futures stood at 24,033.5 points at 7:38 am, signalling a weak opening for the Nifty 50, which had closed at 24,055.80 on Tuesday.

The Trump administration said it had carried out a series of overnight airstrikes against targets in Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate and raising fears of a broader regional conflict.

The escalation came after Indian markets ended marginally lower on Tuesday, weighed down by elevated crude prices and renewed US-Iran tensions.

The Sensex closed 12.99 points, or 0.02%, lower at 76,944.28. During the session, it fell as much as 301.15 points, or 0.39%, to 76,656.12.

The Nifty declined 24.60 points, or 0.10%, to finish at 24,055.80 on the weekly expiry day. It had fallen nearly 100 points to 23,980.55 around 3:20 pm.