West Asia Conflict: Sensex, Nifty Tumbles Nearly 1 Per Cent

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their southward journey in early trade on Friday, tumbling nearly 1 per cent, as the ongoing conflict in West Asia and surging oil prices continue to spoil investors' sentiment.

Heavy selling in global markets, persistent foreign fund outflows and weakness in the rupee also added to the bearish trend.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 708.38 points or 0.93 per cent to 75,326.04 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 222.05 points or 0.93 per cent to 23,417.10.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, InterGlobe Aviation, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank and Tech Mahindra were among the biggest laggards.

Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 0.07 per cent up at USD 100.5 per barrel.

In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were trading lower.

The US market ended sharply lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite tanked 1.78 per cent, Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.56 per cent and S&P 500 dived 1.52 per cent.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 7,049.87 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) however, bought stocks worth Rs 7,449.77 crore.

"With the heightened uncertainty surrounding the West Asian conflict continuing, globally markets are weak and in unchartered territory. Weakness in the US markets indicate that rebound in the market is some time away. With Brent crude around USD 100, bulls are on the defensive.

"With the FIIs persisting with their sustained selling strategy, even large-cap blue-chips are under pressure," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

On Thursday, the Sensex tanked 829.29 points or 1.08 per cent to settle at 76,034.42. Similarly, the Nifty fell by 227.70 points or 0.95 per cent to close at 23,639.15.