India's benchmark indices closed lower on Tuesday as a sharp rally in crude oil prices, driven by geopolitical uncertainty, weighed on investor sentiment. The Sensex fell 388 points and the Nifty slipped below the 24,500 mark, with UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank and InterGlobe Aviation among the biggest laggards.
The Sensex dropped 388.19 points, or 0.49%, to settle at 78,154.25 on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, after a rally in crude oil prices unsettled investors. During the session, it tanked 494.18 points, or 0.62%, to 78,048.26 before paring some of the losses.
Meanwhile, the Nifty declined 112.10 points, or 0.46%, to end at 24,471.70, falling below the 24,500 mark. UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Power Grid were among the major laggards, while Eternal, Infosys, Titan, HCL Tech and Tata Consultancy Services gained.
Crude oil rally weighs on sentiment
Brent crude jumped 2.18% to $89.63 a barrel, the dominant headwind for the session according to Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of HST Wealth. He noted "the Nifty 50 slipping below the 24,500-mark" as volatility tied to the weekly F&O expiry added to the pressure.
Ajit Mishra, SVP of research at Religare Broking, said crude oil moved toward the $90-a-barrel mark as hopes of an early US-Iran agreement faded. Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, added that geopolitical risk tied to the Strait of Hormuz and the US-Iran negotiations kept sentiment guarded ahead of key inflation prints in India and the United States.
Broader market and sector moves
The BSE SmallCap Select index edged higher by 0.38%, while the MidCap Select index ended marginally lower by 0.01%. Among sectoral indices, hospitals dropped 1.82%, followed by realty, FMCG, commodities, power and capital goods. Focused IT, Housing Finance, IT, Energy and Consumer Discretionary were the winners.
Asian and global markets
South Korea's KOSPI ended higher, while Shanghai's SSE Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled lower; Japan's markets were closed for a holiday. Markets in Europe traded mixed, and US markets ended lower on Monday, August 10. Foreign Institutional Investors bought equities worth ₹1,974.76 crore on Monday. On that day, the Sensex rose 43.27 points, or 0.06%, to settle at 78,542.44, while the Nifty added 13.15 points, or 0.05%, to close at 24,583.80.
Source: The Hindu
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