Mumbai, July 13 (IANS) Indian equity markets opened lower on Monday as crude oil prices rebounded to near the $80-per-barrel mark amid renewed geopolitical tensions.

Sensex began the session at 76,963.35, down over 600 points or 0.78 per cent, while Nifty started at 24,039.40, declining 167.50 points or 0.69 per cent.

Sector-wise, most indices traded in the red, led by Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal, which fell up to 1 per cent. Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Private Bank also witnessed selling pressure, while Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma bucked the trend, gaining up to 0.6 per cent.

According to market experts, the back-and-forth developments in the West Asia crisis have become the new normal, creating uncertainty for energy importers such as India.

IndiGo, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank were among top losers.

“From the market perspective, particularly for India, the price of crude is the crucial factor. Brent is currently trading around $80. So long as Brent trades below $90, the market won’t be impacted significantly. But if Brent shoots above $90, there can be a significant correction in the market,” the experts said.

They added that sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows are providing resilience to the domestic market, with investors shifting allocations towards India amid concentration risks in South Korea’s chip sector.

On Sunday, US forces used precision munitions to hit dozens of targets across multiple locations in Iran, according to the US Central Command.

In addition, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed to have attacked US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude surged more than 4 per cent to trade around $80 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 4.55 per cent to $74.66 per barrel.

In Asian markets, major indices traded lower, with Japan’s Nikkei declining 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 0.20 per cent and South Korea’s KOSPI slumping more than 6 per cent.

–IANS

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