Mumbai, March 12 Key equity indices ended with significant declines on Thursday, with the Sensex falling by over 800 points amid a sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Furthermore, sluggish global market trends, weakness in the rupee, and persistent foreign capital outflows also dampened investor sentiment, analysts said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 829.29 points, or 1.08%, to close at 76,034.42. During the day, it plunged by 992.53 points or 1.29% to 75,871.18.
Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell by 227.70 points, or 0.95%, to close at 23,639.15.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest loser among the Sensex constituents, falling by 4.23%, followed by Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, and Trent.
In contrast, NTPC, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and Reliance Industries were the gainers.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 4.78% to $96.47 per barrel.
"Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to dampen global risk appetite, as fresh attacks on oil-shipping vessels have pushed crude prices closer to $100 per barrel, intensifying concerns over inflation and gas supply constraints," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended lower.
European markets were trading in negative territory.
The US market ended mostly lower on Wednesday.
The rupee recovered from record-low levels and closed with a loss of 16 paise at 92.17 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 6,267.31 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought stocks worth Rs 4,965.53 crore.
On Wednesday, the Sensex tumbled 1,342.27 points or 1.72% to close at 76,863.71. The Nifty tanked 394.75 points or 1.63% to end at 23,866.85.
