Indian Shares Extend Losses As Iran Crisis Worsens

(RTTNews) - Indian shares opened lower on Friday to extend losses from the previous session as the conflict in Iran and across the Middle East intensified.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed serious concern over the escalating crisis in West Asia, warning that the situation poses a major threat to global peace and security.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 697 points, or 0.9 percent, at 75,337 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index dipped by 243 points, or a little over 1 percent, to 23,394.

Among the prominent decliners, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Eternal, IndiGo, UltraTech Cement, BEL, Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro plummeted 2-3 percent.

Godrej Properties fell 1.3 percent after announcing it has entered the Coimbatore real estate market.

Raymond Realty tumbled 2.6 percent after receiving a show cause notice from the Income Tax Department.

Manorama Industries lost 3 percent on fund raising reports.

Gravita India dropped 2 percent after it signed a pact to acquire a 98.95 percent stake in Rashtriya Metal Industries for Rs. 559.08 crore.

ACME Solar Holdings soared more than 5 percent after commissioning the second phase of its battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Rajasthan.

KPI Green Energy rallied 3.5 percent. The company said it has energized an additional 35 MWp of solar capacity.