Indian Shares Extend Losses For Fourth Day

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended lower on Thursday, with benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty falling for a fourth consecutive session, as crude oil prices continued to surge in global markets, raising concerns over the potential impact on global energy supplies, inflation and the current account deficit.

Brent crude prices extended gains for a fifth straight session to surge above $98 a barrel after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis claimed an attack on two Saudi oil tankers transiting through the Red Sea and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb and destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant any time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Syed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, said his country would adopt an "eye for an eye" defense doctrine as the U.S. military carried out a 12th straight night of strikes against Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. remains open to a diplomatic settlement of the conflict, but Iran is "not serious about talks."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has warned U.S. service members against carrying out orders to attack civilian infrastructure, saying such actions could amount to war crimes.

It is feared that Brent prices could climb back above $100 a barrel soon if the Middle East conflict drags on.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 363.66 points, or 0.47 percent, to 76,391.39, with selling seen across the board. The NSE Nifty index fell 126.65 points, or 0.53 percent, to 23,869.60.

Broader markets underperformed, with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes losing 1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,583 shares falling while 1,637 shares rose and 171 shares closed unchanged.

Among the prominent decliners, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Steel, SBI, Axis Bank, Indigo, Bajaj Finance and Adani Ports fell 1-2 percent.