Stock market decline continues amid West Asia tensions

The Indian stock market nosedived further on Friday amid concerns surrounding the conflict in West Asia and surging oil prices.

The benchmark Sensex index fell nearly 1% in the early trade. It was trading at 75,364 at 11.45 am.

The Nifty had fallen by 1.1% and was at 23,401 points.

Stock markets had begun to slide on March 2 after the conflict began.

The India VIX index, which measures volatility in the market, spiked 0.85% early on Friday.

With the conflict in West Asia heading towards its third week, major Asian stock indices also fell on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0.7% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.29% and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.8%.

Rupee hits record low in early trade

The Indian rupee slumped further on Friday, declining by 12 paise to a record low of 92.37 against the United States dollar in early trade, reported PTI. This breached the currency’s previous record low of 92.35 hit on Thursday.

The currency’s value had improved marginally to end the Thursday session at 92.18.

On Wednesday, the rupee had closed at 92.04 against the US dollar.

This came as the benchmark Brent crude oil prices jumped above the $100-per-barrel mark once again on Friday.

The oil prices have spiked by nearly 40% since Israel and the United States launched joint attacks against Iran on February 28, according...

Read more