Stock Markets decline in early trade as crude oil jumps to $91 per barrel

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Screen displaying market results outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai. File | Photo Credit: Reuters

Market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) as elevated crude oil prices and rising tensions in West Asia weighed heavily on investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 278.32 points to 77,450.64 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged lower by 57.65 points to 24,230.45.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, InterGlobe Aviation, Infosys, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were among the major laggards.

Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Maruti and Axis Bank were among the winners.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 0.63 per cent higher at $91.46 per barrel.

"Two developments during the last several hours are likely to impact the market today,at least in the early hours of trading. One, Brent crude has again spiked above $91 on escalation of tensions between Iran and the U.S. Two, the US 10-year bond yield has increased to 4.73% and this is negative for Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) inflows which had turned positive in July and August so far," V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

The tailwind for the market is the resilient Indian economy and clear indications of a turnaround in earnings growth, he added.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded lower.

"Elevated crude, with Brent near $91 on unresolved Iran tensions, kept sentiment guarded. Wall Street mirrored the caution," Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research at Axis Direct, said.

FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 2,535.10 crore on Monday (August 17), according to exchange data.

On Monday (August 17), the Sensex declined 281.09 points, or 0.36%, to settle at 77,728.16. The Nifty was down 78.35 points, or 0.32%, to end at 24,287.65, taking the losses to the fifth day.

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