Record High Oil, All-Time Low Rupee Batters Sensex, Nifty; IndiGo, Eternal Top Losers Chart

Battered by record crude oil prices and falling rupee, the domestic equity indices further extended losses on Thursday after opening lower. The 30-share Sensex hit its intraday low at 76,258 points, down by almost 1.6 percent, or 1,238 points. Sensex had opened 0.6 percent lower on Thursday.

Nifty 50 also hit its intraday low at 23,796 points, declining 1.5 percent during the trade and losing 381 points.

Today’s losses have wiped off the gains during Wednesday’s trade, when Sensex had closed higher by 600 points while Nifty had ended 181 points higher.

Out of the 3,160 stocks trading today on the National Stock Exchange, 70 percent (or 2,213) stocks were trading in the red.

The sharp sell-off in the market was triggered by the steep rise in crude oil prices and rupee hitting its all time low against dollar at 95.20.

United States President Donald Trump is reportedly looking to extend the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, further raising concerns for Asian countries like India, which are heavily dependent on imports from the Gulf region.

In a first since the start of the war in West Asia, Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, has jumped to around the $125 per barrel mark.

This is the three-year high of the commodity after the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.

The concern was reflected in the top losers on the National Stock Exchange, with stocks of airline major IndiGo and food delivery company Eternal topping the chart.

While the aviation sector is among the worst hit due to the war, prolonged supply disruption will pressure margins of the food industry due to limited supply of natural gas.