Indian Stock Markets Under Pressure Amid West Asia Crisis and Austerity Call
: At this hour, in the afternoon trade, the Indian stock markets remained under pressure. The Sensex was trading at 76,425.04, down 903.15 points or 1.17%, while the Nifty slipped 246.90 points or 1.02% to trade at 23,929.25. At this hour, the benchmark indices remained under sharp selling pressure. The Sensex was trading at 76,304.96, down 1,023.23 points or 1.32%, while the Nifty slipped 285.55 points or 1.18% to 23,890.60. Among the major laggards in the intraday trade include Titan Company, which declined over 6%, followed by InterGlobe Aviation , Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and Eternal, all trading sharply lower. Indices drifted further after opening in the red. The Nifty 50 fell 288 points or 1.18% to trade at 23,891, while the 30-stock Sensex was down 1,018 points or 1.32% at 76,310. The gold and jewellery sector stocks are hurt the most, falling 7.7%. It was followed by the Toursism sector stocks, which dropped over 4%. Indian stock markets remained under pressure in early trade today, May 11, with the Sensex falling 854.68 points, or 1.11%, to 76,473.51, while the Nifty slipped 235 points, or 0.97%, to 23,941.15. “The market will face pressure from two headwinds today. One, the expected resolution of the West Asia crisis has again slipped away following President Trump’s rejection of Iran’s letter. Consequently, Brent crude has again spiked to $105, potentially aggravating the current account deficit. Two, PM Modi’s appeal to the nation to curb the consumption of petrol/diesel, gold, chemical fertilisers and edible oil and refrain from avoidable foreign travel is a crisis management response to the current account deficit problem caused by high crude prices,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments “This call for austerity has a slightly negative implication for economic growth in FY27. Particularly, the industries related to the austerity call, like petroleum, chemical fertilisers, gold, air travel, hotel and related sectors, will be sentimentally impacted. Sectors like pharmaceuticals, which will not be impacted in any manner, will remain resilient,” he added. Indian stock markets opened lower in the pre-open session today, May 11, with the Sensex falling 311.19 points, or 0.40%, to 77,017.00, while the Nifty declined 232.80 points, or 0.96%, to 23,943.35. “Technically, for Nifty on the lower side, 24,000 or the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), and for Sensex, 76500 would act as a crucial support zone for traders. As long as the market trades above this level, the bullish sentiment is likely to continue,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities. “On the higher side, 24,400/78000 would be the immediate resistance zone. A successful breakout above 24,400/78000 could push the market up to 24,500-24,700/78300-78900. Conversely, if the market falls below 24,000/76500, selling pressure is likely to accelerate. Below this level, the market could retest 23,800/75900, with further downside potentially dragging it to 23,650-23,600/75400-75200,” he added. GIFT Nifty is trading at 24,112, down 127 points or 0.53%, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock markets today. Key factors such as the ongoing West Asia conflict, global market trends, movement in crude oil prices, and fluctuations in the dollar index are likely to influence market sentiment. Global cues, foreign investor activity, and trends in Asian markets will also remain in focus during today’s trading session. On the domestic front, quarterly earnings announcements will also be closely watched by investors. Indian stock markets ended lower on May 8. The Nifty slipped 150.50 points, or 0.62%, to close at 24,176.15, while the Sensex fell 516.33 points, or 0.66%, to settle at 77,328.19. Asian markets traded higher on Monday (early hours) amid rising geopolitical tension and higher crude oil prices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.81%, while the Topix gained 0.32%. South Korea’s Kopsi touched a fresh record and climbed 3.67%, while the Kosdaq traded marginally higher. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.71%. US stock futures traded lower in early trade on Monday. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 189 points, or 0.3%. US stock markets ended higher on Friday. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.71% or 440.88 points to close at 26,247.08, while the S&P 500 rose 0.84% or 61.82 points to settle at 7,398.93. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 12.19 points, or 0.02%, to end the session at 49,609.16. The US Dollar Index (DXY) , which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, was trading 0.11% up at 98 on Monday morning. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar in comparison to major currencies. The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, etc. The rupee appreciated 0.22% to close at 94.47 to the dollar on May 8. Rising crude oil prices remain in focus amid escalating tension between the United States and Iran. In early Monday trade, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 3.67% to $99.04 per barrel, while Brent crude advanced 3.44% to $104.81 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,111 crore on May 8. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 6,748 crore during the session. Share price of jewellery companies such as Titan Company , Senco Gold and Kalyan Jewellers India are likely to remain in focus today, May 11. The attention comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made comments related to gold purchases during a public event in Hyderabad over the weekend. During his speech, Modi urged citizens to avoid buying gold for weddings for one year. He also spoke about reducing unnecessary travel, including foreign trips, and encouraged people to follow work-from-home practices wherever possible. The comments come at a time when gold prices remain elevated and concerns around fuel imports and foreign exchange outflows continue to remain in focus. In the international market, gold was trading at $4,723 per ounce. Gold prices in India remain in sharp focus. On the MCX, June 5, 2026, gold futures were trading at Rs 1,52,589 per 10 grams in the latest update. In the last trading session, the gems and jewellery sector emerged as one of the top gainers, rising 4.43%, followed by paints and pigments which gained 3.1%. Waste management stocks also saw strong momentum with a 3.04% rise, while the electronics sector advanced 2.28%. In the last trading session, the Yash Birla Group emerged as one of the top-performing business groups, gaining 5.54%, followed by the Jaipuria Group which rose 5.11%. The M P Birla Group advanced 3.47%, while the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise group gained 3.23%. On the losing side, the Garware Group declined 2.09%, while the Arvind Mafatlal Group slipped 2.61%. The Indiabulls Group was among the top laggards, falling 3.23% during the session.
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