Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slumped in early trade, tracking a bearish trend in global equities and higher oil prices due to escalating conflict in West Asia.
Tehran said it launched ballistic missile attacks on two US bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media.
“Developments in recent days brought risks to regional oil supplies back into focus…We’ve seen oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz despite the stalemate between the US and Iran, but rising tensions clearly put crossings at risk,” said ING analysts in a client note. Iran pushed ahead with strikes targeting American interests around West Asia, vowing “severe” consequences to U.S. attacks, including one that the Iranian Red Crescent said left four people dead at a wedding celebration.
Iran said that U.S. strikes on its territory killed 11 people, state media reported, after a fresh attack in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
Washington did not immediately comment on the reports, although US President Donald Trump had warned earlier of “much harder and higher” attacks if Iran retaliated to U.S. strikes. “The Deputy Governor of Khuzestan Province for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs said that last night’s US missile attack on three locations in the province left seven people dead and eight injured,” state-run IRNA said.
