Sensex slumps nearly 500 points amid escalating tensions in Middle East

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Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on Monday as investors offloaded finance, utility and energy stocks amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and surging crude oil prices overseas.

Investors stayed on the sidelines and refrained from taking big risks amid huge uncertainty due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, analysts said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 483.24 points or 0.73 per cent to settle at 65,512.39. The Nifty declined 141.15 points or 0.72 per cent to end at 19,512.35.

Only three Sensex stocks traded in the green, while the Nifty-50 saw its 43 stocks closing in the red.

Mahindra & Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, sliding 2.05 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, SBI, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan.

However, IT majors HCL Technologies and TCS defied the trend and gained 1.02 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively. FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever rose 0.32 per cent.

Investors were also trading cautiously ahead of macroeconomic data to be announced later this week.

The industrial production and manufacturing data for August are scheduled to be announced on October 12. Inflation rate for September and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data will be announced on October 13.

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India expectedly left its key interest rate unchanged and signalled it would keep liquidity tight using bond sales to bring prices closer to the target.

Elsewhere in Asian markets, Hang Seng was trading 0.19 per cent higher. Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.41 per cent, while Taiwan T SEC 50 Index was up 0.28 per cent. The Japanese stock markets were closed on Monday.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. Germany’s DAX declined 0.50 per cent, and France’s CAC 40 was down 0.27 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.26 per cent higher.

The US markets ended higher on Friday with S&P 500 closing with a gain of 1.18 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average Index up 0.87 per cent.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude rose sharply by 3.32 per cent to $87.39 a barrel on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹90.29 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 364.06 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 65,995.63 points on Friday. The Nifty had advanced 107.75 points or 0.55 per cent to end at 19,653.50.