Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sultan of Oman Haitham Bin Tarik hold bilateral talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India and Oman will sign a trade deal in the coming months, two Indian government officials said, as New Delhi seeks to expand its ties in the Middle East, where rising tensions are putting major shipping routes at risk.

“It will help India with a strategic partner and access to key trade routes in a volatile region,” one official told Reuters.

India and Oman have annual trade of less than $13 billion, but the relationship is important for New Delhi as the Gulf nation is a gateway to the narrow Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran, a major transit point for global oil shipments.

Also Read | India, Oman in talks for comprehensive economic partnership agreement

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has spread to hostilities with Iran, and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea area, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

The trade deal requires the approval of the government that wins India’s ongoing national elections, whose results are to be announced on June 4, the officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to win a rare third term.

The officials asked not to be named as the discussions are private.

Also Read | India, Oman to cooperate in the field of archives

India’s trade and Foreign Ministries and Oman’s embassy in India and Foreign Ministry did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Making little progress on a deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), India has pivoted to seeking bilateral deals with GCC member nations such as Oman and United Arab Emirates.

The planned deal with Oman “also gives a competitive edge as GCC is negotiating trade agreements with Pakistan and China,” the official said.

Also Read | A time-honoured connect that will help bridge the Gulf 

Oman has agreed to eliminate duties on Indian exports worth an annual $3 billion including agricultural products, gems and jewellery, leather, automobiles, medical devices, engineering products and textiles, the officials said

India has agreed to reduce duties on some petrochemicals, aluminium and copper from Oman, while capping imports of such goods, the officials said.

Continuing its downtrend for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 585.63 points to 72,814.15 on April 16, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Equity benchmark indices continued to slump in early trade on April 16 on fears of escalating tensions in the Middle East and weak global trends.

Foreign fund outflows and uptick in Brent crude oil prices also dented investors’ sentiment.

Continuing its downtrend for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 585.63 points to 72,814.15. The NSE Nifty declined 168.65 points to 22,103.85.

From the Sensex basket, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, and ICICI Bank were the major laggards.

Titan Company, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle, and Maruti were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower.

Wall Street ended in negative territory on Monday.

“Market sentiment was impacted by higher-than-expected inflation data and tensions between Iran and Israel,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.58% to $90.62 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,268 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

The market is more concerned about the geopolitical issue, said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

“Israel’s military chief’s statement that “there will be a response to Iran’s attack on Israel” has increased the probability of escalation of tensions in the Middle East. We don’t know the timing and the nature of the Israeli response, which can be totally unexpected. This is likely to keep the markets weak in the near-term,” Mr. Vijayakumar added.

The BSE benchmark tanked 845.12 points or 1.14% to settle at 73,399.78 on Monday. The NSE Nifty declined 246.90 points or 1.10% to finish at 22,272.50.

Sensex plunged 825.74 points or 1.26% to settle at 64,571.88 points on October 23, 2023. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Investors’ wealth eroded by ₹7.59 lakh crore on Monday (October 23) as the equity market took a heavy drubbing amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 825.74 points or 1.26% to settle at 64,571.88 points. During the day, the index plummeted 894.94 points or 1.36% to 64,502.68 points.

This is the fourth consecutive session of decline for the benchmark index and in four days, the BSE benchmark has dropped by 1,856.21 points or 2.79%.

Amid weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms fell by ₹12,51,700.73 crore in four days of market crash to reach ₹3,11,30,724.40 crore.

On Monday alone, the market valuation of the BSE-listed companies plummeted ₹7,59,041.63 crore.

“Benchmark indices witnessed severe pounding in the last hour trades as simmering geopolitical tension in the Middle East region triggered a wave of selling pressure and prompted investors to offload equity holdings.

“Investors are already worried about further interest rate hike and inflation, and with the addition of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the uncertainty has increased further and leading to weak sentiment in global equities,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

Among the Sensex firms, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies, NTPC, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards.

Bajaj Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra were the gainers.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.04% to $92.18 a barrel.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge cracked 4.18% and midcap index dropped 2.51%.

“Fear of regional conflict in the Middle East and worries over more rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve for an extended period were the major cause of concern in the market. Even the earning season has been mixed so far, thus not providing resilience to the market,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

All the indices ended lower, with telecommunication plunging 3.82%, industrials falling 3.26%, utilities (3.10%), commodities (3.06%), services (2.99%), realty (2.84%), power (2.69%), consumer discretionary (2.25%), IT (2.14%) and oil & gas (1.88%).

A total of 3,196 firms declined while 638 advanced and 156 remained unchanged on the BSE.