India Stocks: Indian shares log worst week in over a year as Mideast war lifts crude, dents risk appetite

Hindustan Petroleum

06/03/2026 10:37

Corrects 2nd bullet to say Brent set for best week, not worst week

Nifty posts worst week in 12 months, Sensex in 14 months

Brent set for best week since Russia's war on Ukraine in 2022

Fifteen of the 16 major sectors log weekly losses

Larsen & Toubro logs worst week since May 2020

Financials, oil and gas stocks lead weekly losses

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

March 6 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes closed lower to log their worst week in over a year on Friday, as the escalating U.S.-Israeli war with Iran sent crude prices surging and soured global investor sentiment.

Brent crude rose to a 20-month high of $87.66 per barrel on Friday and is on course for a 20% jump this week, the sharpest rise since March 2022 in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Higher oil prices are typically negative for India, the world's third-largest crude importer. O/R

Markets fear that a broader energy-supply shock could substantially increase inflationary pressures and strain India's current account and fiscal balance.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 1.27% to 24,450.45 on Friday, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN dropped 1.37% to 78,918.9, with heavyweight financials leading the drag.

For the week, the Nifty and Sensex lost about 2.9% each, marking their steepest weekly decline since February 28, 2025 and December 20, 2024, respectively.

The market is taking into account the near-term threat from oil prices, said Pankaj Pandey, head of retail research at ICICI Securities.

"However, we don't yet see a macroeconomic impact from this as the broad expectation is that crude prices will not remain elevated for a long period.

The rupee INR=IN ended a tad lower on Friday and logged its worst weekly fall in over a month.

Fifteen of 16 major sectors fell this week, while small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 declined 2.5% and 2.9%, respectively.

State-owned banks .NIFTYPSU lost 6.5% on fears that higher crude could lift government borrowing costs, push bond yields up and compress treasury gains.

Financials .NIFTYFIN and banks .NSEBANK fell about 4.5% each.

Oil and gas .NIFOILGAS dropped 3.9%, as oil marketing companies BPCL BPCL.NS, HPCL HPCL.NS and IOC IOC.NS fell.

Among other stocks, Larsen and Toubro LART.NS slipped 2.2%. It fell at 7.7% for the week, its worst since May 2020, as investors priced in Middle East exposure.

Interglobe Aviation INGL.NS fell 2.4% on Friday and 8.8% on the week, the worst in three months, on worries that higher fuel costs and moderation in international air traffic could dent quarterly earnings.

"While the conflict dragged equities this week, it's not all gloom," said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.

"The U.S. has already said it will not put troops on the ground, which suggests the conflict may not rage on for more than a few weeks, creating a compelling window for investors to accumulate stocks at reasonable valuations."

Weekly performance of India's Nifty 50 stocks https://reut.rs/3OUM0d2

Nifty logs worst week in over a month as Middle East flare up rocks sentiments https://reut.rs/4rT8JVr

Weekly performance of India's key indexes https://reut.rs/4us6PwS

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Sonia Cheema and Harikrishnan Nair)

 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))