Concerns over growing tensions in the Middle East cause markets to decline for a third day

The significant selling of IT stocks on Tuesday, along with poor global trends and concerns over worsening tensions in the Middle East, contributed to the decline of the key equity indexes, the Sensex and Nifty.

Investor sentiment was also damaged by the outflow of foreign funds.

For the third day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 456.10 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 72,943.68, continuing its downward trend. It fell 714.75 points, or 0.97 percent, to 72,685.03 throughout the day.

The NSE Nifty closed at 22,147.90, down 124.60 points, or 0.56 percent.

Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, and Larsen & Toubro were the top losers from the Sensex basket.

The winners were Reliance Industries, Titan Company, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Maruti, ITC, Power Grid, and ITC.

Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower in the Asian markets.

The markets in Europe were quoting negatively. On Monday, Wall Street concluded in negative territory.

Israel’s military commander said on Monday that his nation would retaliate for Iran’s strike over the weekend, but he did not specify when or how. This came as international leaders advised against reprisal in an effort to prevent a Middle East conflict spiral.

The benchmark for world oil, Brent crude, fell 0.26 percent to USD 89.87 a barrel.

Exchange data shows that foreign institutional investors sold off shares worth Rs 3,268 crore.

To end at 73,399.78, the BSE benchmark fell 845.12 points, or 1.14 percent. The NSE Nifty ended at 22,272.50, down 246.90 points, or 1.1%.