Indian Shares Retreat As Oil Climbs Back Above $110 Amid Stalled Peace Talks

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended lower on Tuesday as a stronger dollar and elevated oil prices fueled concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates and foreign fund inflows.

The Indian rupee neared a one-month low versus the dollar and Brent crude prices consolidated above $111 a barrel after reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump is not satisfied with the Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the two-month war in exchange for delaying nuclear talks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned of sweeping U.S. sanctions targeting firms lined to Iranian airlines and Iran said the U.S. is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations, adding to investor anxiety.

Traders also awaited cues from big tech earnings and a string of rate decisions by major central banks, including from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 416.72 points, or 0.54 percent, to 76,886.91, while the NSE Nifty index dropped 97 points, or 0.40 percent, to 23,995.70.

The mid-cap and small-cap indexes on the BSE finished marginally lower.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,243 shares falling while 2,015 shares rose and 169 shares closed unchanged.

Banks came under selling pressure, with ICICI Bank, SBI and Axis Bank tumbling 2-3 percent amid concerns around the Reserve Bank of India's new provisioning framework, which will come into effect from April 1,2027.

Airline InterGlobe Aviation fell 2.6 percent as rising aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs threatened its margins.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Federation of Indian Airlines warned that the sector is facing "extreme stress" due to soaring ATF prices.

HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Infosys, UltraTech, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki India and HCL Technologies dropped 1-3 percent while Reliance Industries advanced 1.7 percent after reports that it will set up India's largest data center cluster in Andhra Pradesh. Telecom major Bharti Airtel added 1.4 percent.