Indian Shares Tumble On Rising Oil Prices, Bond Yields

(RTTNews) - Indian shares fell sharply on Tuesday as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend.

After a strong opening, benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty reverse course to end deep in the red on concerns over rising oil and U.S. bond yields amid escalating Middle East tensions.

Brent crude prices rose over 2 percent to trade above $108 a barrel amid fears of a tightening oil market after Saudi Arabia closed a critical pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz following a drone attack.

Adding to concerns over global supplies, a highly anticipated meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf States was postponed at the last minute in the absence of conditions conducive to a constructive dialogue.

Traders also looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve's highly anticipated rate decision on Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to hike rates by 25 basis points and deliver at least one more hike by the end of March to fight stubbornly high inflation.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 777.94 points, or 1.04 percent, to 74,003.82 while the NSE Nifty index dropped 279.50 points, or 1.19 percent, to 23,118.60.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes slumped 2.2 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 3,292 shares falling while 1,190 shares rose and 202 shares closed unchanged.

Among the prominent decliners, Asian Paints, Trent, SBI, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, Bajaj FinServ, Titan Company, Indigo and BEL plunged 3-6 percent.

Information technology shares bucked the weak trend, with TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and HCL Technologies climbing 2-4 percent, after industry leaders called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development amidst growing public alarm over its potential dangers.

HDFC Bank shares rose 1.3 percent after the private sector lender nominated two candidates for the RBI's consideration for the CEO position.