Mumbai, June 11 (IANS) Domestic equity benchmarks traded lower on Thursday in the morning session amid escalating tensions in West Asia and a sharp rise in crude oil prices.

Sensex declined over 450 points or 0.62 per cent to touch an intraday low of 73,518 in early trade. Similarly, Nifty slipped more than 100 points or 0.61 per cent to an intraday low of 23,072.

Sectorally, IT stocks led the decline, with the Nifty IT index tumbling more than 2 per cent. Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom, Nifty Cement and Nifty Auto were also among the major laggards.

Healthcare stocks, however, bucked the trend. Nifty Pharma and Nifty500 Healthcare gained up to 0.50 per cent, while Nifty Media emerged as the top sectoral gainer, rising 0.78 per cent.

Among Nifty 50 stocks, IT counters remained under pressure, with HCLTech falling over 3 per cent, followed by Infosys and Tech Mahindra.

Trent, Eternal, TCS and Wipro were also among the major laggards. Other notable losers included Eicher Motors, Titan and Mahindra & Mahindra.

According to market experts, investor sentiment remained cautious amid the latest escalation in the West Asia conflict and the consequent surge in crude oil prices.

They said higher energy prices could stoke inflationary pressures globally, complicating the outlook for interest rates and economic growth. The uncertainty has also triggered a risk-off sentiment across global equity markets.

“The recent measures undertaken by the RBI and the government have helped stabilise the rupee to some extent. However, uncertainty surrounding global developments and foreign fund flows may continue to keep markets under pressure in the near term,” analysts said.

Meanwhile, US Central Command said American forces launched additional strikes on multiple targets in Iran in response to what it described as the country’s continued aggression.

On the commodities front, international benchmark Brent crude rose 2.54 per cent to $95.47 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 4 per cent to $93.64 per barrel.

Across Asian stocks, market sentiment remained weak. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI declined up to 1 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei traded flat.

Overnight, Wall Street ended lower, with the S&P 500 falling 1.62 per cent and the Nasdaq declining nearly 2 per cent.

–IANS

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