Sensex, Nifty trade deeply in red in early deals amid Israel-Iran war

Indian equity benchmarks extended their previous’ losses with a gap-down opening on Friday tracking sell-off in Asian counterparts as well as surge in crude oil prices amid heightening geopolitical tensions in the Middle East region after Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran in a major escalation of the regional conflict. US officials confirmed that the U.S. had no involvement or role in the operation. 

Sensex and Nifty are trading deeply in red with cut of over a percent each in early deals due to selling in all the sector indices. Foreign fund outflows dented the domestic sentiments. Traders overlooked better-than-expected inflation data for May. India's retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to a six-year low of 2.82 per cent in the month of May 2025 mainly due to a slower increase in food prices.

Besides, oil stocks were in focus as Brent crude and US WTI crude futures soared on Friday after Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities this morning. In stock specific development, Talbros Automotive Components traded higher as the company, along with its JVs, has received work orders worth Rs 580 crore for both domestic and export market from the leading OEMs. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80835.91, down by 856.07 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 80354.59 and 80914.02. There were 1 stock advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.08%, while Small cap index was down by 1.18%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities down by 1.36%, Power down by 1.32%, Energy down by 1.31%, Oil & Gas down by 1.31% and Consumer Durables down by 1.28%, while there was no gainer on the BSE sectoral front.

The sole gainer on the Sensex was Bharat Electronics up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.49%, Trent down by 2.37%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.02%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.96% and Titan Company down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, China has hinted at holding talks with India over its restrictions on export of rare earth materials, and said it is willing to enhance dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries to keep industrial supply chains stable. China’s recent restrictions on the exports of key metals caused widespread disruption in the manufacturing of automobiles and semiconductor chips in a host of countries, including India. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said ‘We are willing to enhance dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries and regions to jointly keep the stability of global industrial and supply chains’.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is in touch with the Chinese side to bring predictability in supply chain for trade, consistent with international practices. It said ‘We have been in touch with the Chinese side, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and general administration of customs in early April, as you would be aware, had announced the decision to implement export controls on certain rare earth-related items. We are in touch with the Chinese side, both here in Delhi as also in Beijing, to bring predictability in supply chain for trade, consistent with international practices’.

Earlier, Indian Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat met Chinese Vice Minister Sun Weidong and held talks on bilateral issues. They discussed ‘common concerns’ among others. After several months of a squeeze on rare earth metals over which China holds a monopoly, Beijing began clearing selective export licenses reportedly for the US as both countries held talks in London over the issues. Rare earths are a group of metals consisting of 17 elements. Though present in several counties, their extraction is costly and messy, causing massive amounts of pollution. According to the International Energy Agency, China accounts for 61 per cent of global mined rare earth production but controls 92 per cent of the global output.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24611.15, down by 277.05 points or 1.11% after trading in a range of 24473.00 and 24653.15. There were 2 stocks advancing against 48 stocks declining on the index.

The only gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 1.14% and ONGC up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Trent down by 2.43%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.35%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.16%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.89% and Power Grid down by 1.83% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 468.73 points or 1.23% to 37,704.36, Taiwan Weighted lost 181.78 points or 0.82% to 22,106.04, Hang Seng declined 168.52 points or 0.7% to 23,866.86, KOSPI dropped 41.55 points or 1.42% to 2,878.48, Jakarta Composite fell 35.73 points or 0.5% to 7,168.64, Shanghai Composite weakened 24.65 points or 0.73% to 3,378.01 and Straits Times was down by 19.47 points or 0.5% to 3,902.73.