Indian shares tumbled sharply on Monday, with the Sensex down over 1,000 points and the Nifty hitting a near six-month low as rising crude oil prices and renewed US-Iran tensions weighed on investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex fell as much as 1,003 points or 1.36% to 72,892.63 while the Nifty 50 fell 313 points or 1.35% to 22,863.30, according to market data reported by The Times of India.
Oil prices had risen after a deadlock in the US-Iran peace efforts, and this was followed by a fall. President Donald Trump said he had spurned an Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting, but Iran said diplomacy was the way forward.
Brent crude oil climbed more than 1% to over $105 a barrel early Monday on concerns that continuing tensions could disrupt regional oil supplies.
India, one of the biggest importers of crude, is particularly vulnerable to higher oil prices which could inflate its import bill and stoke inflationary pressures, Reuters reported.
