Mumbai: Indian shares declined sharply at the open on Monday as higher crude oil prices piled pressure on the Asian country’s economy, stoking inflation worries and pushing up import costs in the world’s third-largest oil importer.
Oil prices surged about 26% in early trade to their highest since July 2022.
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The Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab slid 2.38% at 23,868.05 and the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab shed 2.36% to 77,056.75 as of 9:15 a.m. IST.
All 16 major sectors logged losses at the open. The broader small-caps (.NIFSMCP100), opens new tab and mid-caps (.NIFMDCP100), opens new tab fell about 1.8% each.
Top private lenders HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), opens new tab and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), opens new tab dropped 3.7% and 3.1%, respectively, while oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), opens new tab lost 2.1%.
Other Asian stocks (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab fell 4.7%, while Wall Street and European futures also slid, as the inflationary shock from surging crude prices threatened to harden or push up interest rates worldwide. Safe-haven demand kept the U.S. dollar firm.
Iraq and Kuwait have begun cutting oil output, adding to earlier liquefied natural gas reductions from Qatar, as the war blocks shipments from the Middle East.
Brent crude jumped as much as 26.4% to $117.16 a barrel, and was up 23% at $114.08 by 9:15 a.m. IST.