Sensex, Nifty slide: How missiles in the Middle East dampen the India market

Escalating tensions between Israel and Iran pushed global oil prices up, leading to a decline in the Indian currency and the nation’s equity markets. Major market benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty fell by afternoon trade despite a brief recovery run during brunch hours.

The Sensex lost more than 346 points to hit a day low of 81.237.01 while Nifty shed 102 points to a low of 24750.45 so far.

TCS, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HCL Tech, and Tata Motors led the laggards in the 30-share BSE index, offsetting gains from Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank, Titan, and Mahindra and Mahindra.

The tiff between the two Middle East nations escalated on Wednesday after the Israeli military confirmed that their warplanes hit two facilities in Tehran, one used for manufacturing uranium centrifuges and the other for missile components.

What began as a “surprise preemptive strike” by Israel on Friday intensified in the following days, with oil prices hiking the world over.

On June 12, 2025—one day before Israel’s “preemptive strike”—Brent crude had settled at $69.36 a barrel. On Tuesday (June 17, 2025), it rose by more than 10 per cent to $76.45 a barrel. While the global crude oil benchmark slipped 0.8 per cent during the day to $75.92 a barrel, it still looks at a 1.6 per cent weekly spike.

Iran is one of the biggest exporters of crude oil in the world. Moreover, it overlooks the Strait of Hormuz—most of the world’s oil passes through it.

A jump in crude prices triggered a demand for the dollar and the outflow of foreign investment, leading to a dip in the Indian currency as well as equities.

Shares of ONGC and Indian Oil slipped, while those of Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum recovered later in the day.

As the Iran-Israel conflict intensifies, it remains to be seen how the Indian equity markets will respond to the changes as investors grow and slowly move towards safe-haven assets like gold.

Business