Mumbai, June 23
The Indian benchmark indices opened in the red on Monday amid weak global cues due to rising Middle East tensions, as selling was seen in the IT and auto sectors in the early trade.
At around 9.30 am, Sensex was trading 677.10 points or 0.82 per cent down at 81,731.07 while the Nifty declined 204.6 point or 0.81 per cent at 24,907.75
Nifty Bank was down 387.75 points or 0.69 per cent at 55,865.10 The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,776.05 after dropping 219.45 points or 0.38 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,148.95 after declining 45.25 points or 0.25 per cent.
According to analysts, even though the US bombing of Iran’s three nuclear facilities has worsened the crisis, the impact on the market is likely to be limited. The uncertain factor now is the timing and nature of the Iranian response.
"If Iran targets and damages the US defence facilities in the region or hurts US military personnel seriously, the US response can be huge and this might further worsen the crisis. But the market assessment is that there are limits to what Iran can do against US and Israel," said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.
The fact is that the closure of Hormuz Strait will harm Iran and Iran’s friend China more than anyone else. The market construct continues to favour a ‘buy on dips’ strategy, he added.