Benchmark Indian equity indices ended lower on Monday as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran, along with higher oil prices, unsettled investors. The BSE Sensex fell 372.10 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 76,728.37 after touching an intraday low of 76,621.75. The NSE Nifty declined 109.75 points, or 0.46 percent, to finish at 23,946.25. Among Sensex constituents, Kotak Mahindra Bank dropped 3.24 percent after announcing that its managing director and chief executive would step down at the end of his term in December 2026. Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, InterGlobe Aviation, UltraTech Cement and Larsen & Toubro also declined. In contrast, Eternal, Trent, Bharat Electronics and NTPC recorded gains. Brent crude rose 1.51 percent to $73.09 a barrel. Analysts noted that weekend exchanges between the United States and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz raised concerns about the stability of any agreement. Asian markets closed mixed, with South Korea’s Kospi lower while Japan’s Nikkei, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished higher. European markets traded lower at midday, and U.S. indices ended slightly down on Friday. Indian markets were shut on Friday for Muharram. Foreign institutional investors purchased Indian equities worth 383.76 crore rupees on Thursday.
