The stock market crashed further on Friday amid concerns surrounding the conflict in West Asia and surging oil prices.
The benchmark Sensex index fell more than 1,400 points or 1.9%. The Nifty had also fallen nearly 2%, or by more than 460 points, when the session ended on Friday.
This was the worst week for the market in four years with nearly Rs 20 lakh crore in investors’ wealth getting wiped out, CNBC-TV18 reported.
Stock markets had begun to slide on March 2 after the conflict began.
The India VIX index, which measures volatility in the market, spiked 5.7% on Friday.
Major Asian stock indices also fell on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed nearly 1% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.1% and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.7%.
Rupee at record low
The Indian rupee slumped further on Friday to a record low of 92.4 against the United States dollar.
It breached the currency’s previous record low of 92.35 hit on Thursday.
The Indian currency has lost 1.5% in value since the conflict broke out, Reuters reported.
The fall continued on Friday as the benchmark Brent crude oil prices again jumped above the $100-per-barrel mark.
The global oil prices have spiked by nearly 40% since Israel and the United States launched their attacks on Iran on February 28, according to AFP. Tehran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.
The price of Brent was about $72.8 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started.
The escalating tensions have raised fears of disruption to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow waterbody connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.
On Monday as well, oil prices had briefly crossed the $100-per-barrel mark, the highest since July 2022.
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