Sensex falls 162 points, Nifty closes below 12,250; Sun Pharma, TCS, HCL Technologies gain

Mumbai: Indian equity benchmark indices remained under pressure on Friday (January 3) over escalating tensions in the Middle East. Amid global cues, the Sensex closed down 162.03 points or 0.39% at 41464.61, while Nifty ended down 55.50 points or 0.45% at 12,226.70. Major gainers on the Nifty were Sun Pharma, TCS, HCL Technologies, GAIL and Infosys, while Zee Entertainment, Bharti Infratel, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors and Axis Bank were the laggards.

In the afternoon, the Indian rupee was trading near the day's low level at 71.76 per dollar, down 39 paise, versus the previous close of 71.37.

Benchmark indices were trading at day's lower with Nifty around 12,000 level. At 14:28 pm, the Sensex was trading down 228.34 points or 0.55% at 41,398.30, while the Nifty was also at 12,211, down 71.20 points or 0.58%. 

During early trade on Friday, Sensex fell 70 points after the global prices surged over 3 per cent over escalating tensions in the Middle East. At 10.17 am, the Sensex was down 69.87 points at 41,556.77. It opened at 41,634.51 from its previous close of 41,626.64, while the Nifty slipped 27.10 points lower at 12,255.10.

Oil prices in the Asian trading market have jumped after media reports that the head of Iran`s elite Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad`s international airport.

Traders were clearly spooked. Europe`s stock markets fell 0.5% in early trading as hopes for a lengthy New Year rally vanished. Safe havens gained, with Japan`s yen rising half a percent to the dollar to a two-month high and the Swiss franc hitting its highest against the euro since September.

The Middle East-focused oil markets saw the most dramatic moves. Brent crude futures jumped nearly $3 to $69.16 a barrel -- also the highest since September -- before easing back to $68.42.

Soleimani`s Quds Force and its paramilitary proxies, ranging from Lebanon`s Hezbollah to the PMF in Iraq, have ample means to mount a multi-pronged response.

In September, US officials blamed Iran for a missile and drone attack on oil installations of Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state energy giant and world`s largest oil exporter. The Trump administration did not respond, beyond heated rhetoric and threats.

(With Agency Inputs)