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Indian shares drop as crude reaches $100; Infosys and IndiGo fall on subdued results for Q2

Indian shares?opened?lower on Friday. Pressured?by a rise in Brent crude?to over $100?per barrelas?the Middle?East crisis escalates. A slide in IT company Infosys, and airline operator IndiGo due to weaker than expected earnings further hurt the sentiment.

By 9:15 a.m. IST the benchmark Nifty 50 slid 0.85% to 23,666.35, and the BSE Sensex fell?0.89%, to 75,708.19, putting both indices on course to suffer their fifth consecutive session of losses.

U.S. president Donald?Trump on Thursday promised "major punishment" against?Iran, and its allied?Houthi fighters after they attacked two Saudi oil tanks in the Red Sea. This extended the Middle East conflict to a new major shipping chokepoint.

India's economy, which is the third largest?crude importer/consumer in the world, faces a major risk from higher oil prices. They can exacerbate?inflation and widen?the trade deficit, while also squeezing corporate margins and growth.

All 16 major?sectors posted losses. Small-caps and midcaps both fell by 0.6%.

After disappointing?June-quarter results, Infosys has lost about 2% and Interglobe Aviation is down about 1.5%. Reporting by Vivek M and Bharathrajeswaran, Editing by Mrigank dhaniwala and Nivedita Bhattacharjee

(source: Reuters)