Indian Shares Snap Three-day Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - Indian shares fluctuated before ending slightly higher on Thursday. Benchmark indexes snapped a three-day losing streak even as Brent crude prices rose above $102 a barrel to reach their highest level since May, fueling concerns about the potential impact on rupee, inflation and corporate earnings.

There has been an escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen, fueling concerns about further disruptions to energy supplies.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he doesn't think the Iran war will end until after November's midterm elections, adding that the U.S. is not looking to restart negotiations and that Tehran "can't hold out any longer."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that its naval forces attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers, adding it would escalate its response to any further attacks.

Traders also awaited the ECB rate decision later in the day as well as upcoming U.S. CPI and PPI inflation readings for direction.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex reversed early losses to end 138.37 points, or 0.19 percent, higher at 74,902.59.

The NSE Nifty index ended up 46.30 points, or 0.20 percent, at 23,477.80. The BSE mid-cap index dropped 0.4 percent while the small-cap index closed on a flat note.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,405 shares falling while 1,922 shares rose and 200 shares closed unchanged.

For a brief period, there was an issue with price updates and order placement across brokers for some F&O contracts on BSE earlier in the session.

While HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank and Power Grid Corp rose 1-2 percent, Adani Ports, ITC, Trent, Tata Steel and HCL Technologies fell 1-2 percent.