BENGALURU, March 11, 2026, 16:02 IST
Stocks in India tumbled Wednesday, with the Nifty 50 giving up 1.63% to settle at 23,866.85 and the BSE Sensex sliding 1.72% to 76,863.71. Investors unloaded shares as fresh swings in oil and an escalating Middle East crisis rattled sentiment.
This hits close to home for India. The country relies on imports for roughly 85% of its crude, making local stocks sensitive when oil prices spike. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s October 2025 monetary policy report, every 10% increase in crude prices could tack on about 30 basis points—0.30 percentage point—to inflation.
The squeeze is already apparent. Both benchmarks have lost roughly 5% since the Iran war began, with Wednesday’s drop erasing a good chunk of Tuesday’s gains.
The market saw widespread selling, leaving twelve out of sixteen key sectors in the red. HDFC Bank dropped 1.8%. ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries each slid 1.3%, with Reliance giving back an earlier advance. Smallcaps eased 0.4%, midcaps shed 1.3%.
“Volatility isn’t going anywhere,” said Sunny Agrawal, who leads fundamental equity research at SBICAPS Securities, pointing to oil’s wild moves and the unresolved conflict. Devarsh Vakil at HDFC Securities called the mood “basically on edge” earlier. Reuters
Some names managed gains. Adani Total Gas surged 20%, Gujarat Gas climbed 4%, and Indraprastha Gas tacked on 3.5% after India triggered emergency protocols to redirect gas supplies amid LNG shipping delays in the Strait of Hormuz. Sedemac Mechatronics popped 7.3% on its first trading day.
Markets reversed course sharply on Tuesday. The Nifty climbed 0.97%, Sensex notched up a 0.82% gain after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the conflict might be “over soon.” Brent crude tumbled 9.1% to $89.98, which gave lenders and oil-sensitive shares like IndiGo and Asian Paints a boost. Reuters
Crude bounced back by Wednesday, with Brent climbing 4% to $91.32 a barrel. The rupee, pressured despite intervention from state-run banks selling dollars, weakened to 92.04 per dollar and trailed most other Asian currencies.
The risk? A prolonged conflict or a sharper squeeze on shipping through Hormuz could keep oil prices elevated, piling more pressure on Indian equities and the rupee. There’s an alternative, if a slim one: Vakil points to a potential emergency stockpile release that might ease crude. But Aishvarya Dadheech at Fident Asset Management said Tuesday any “major relief rally” probably hinges on oil dropping closer to $70. Reuters
Right now, oil and the conflict have investors’ attention. The Nifty slipped under 24,000, while the Sensex erased its Tuesday gains. Both indexes are hanging around the one-year lows marked earlier this week.
