A bird flies near the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, April 3, 2025. REUTERS
May 5 (Reuters) – Indian shares opened lower on Tuesday as elevated crude oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict weighed on risk sentiment, while investors assessed March-quarter corporate earnings.
The Nifty 50 was down 0.28% at 24,052.60, as of 9:15 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.21% to 77,103.72.
Brent crude surged to an intraday high of $115.3 a barrel on Monday after Iran stepped up attacks on the UAE and ships in the Middle East Gulf, including several in the Strait of Hormuz.
While oil prices eased to about $113 in early trade on Tuesday on signs the U.S. Navy is loosening Iran’s closure of the strait, they remain elevated, underscoring persistent macroeconomic risks.
Higher crude prices are a negative for the world’s third-largest importer of the commodity, as they add to inflationary pressures and drag economic growth and corporate earnings.
Eleven of the 16 major sectors declined at the open. The broader small-caps and mid-caps fell 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
The rupee slid to an all-time low after U.S.-Iranian strikes in the Gulf rattled markets, dampening expectations of a peace resolution.
Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
