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India's benchmark stocks have their worst week in the last four months, as crude oil tops $100

Indian'shares' fell on Friday due to the rise in oil prices, which reached above $100 a barrel as the Middle East crisis intensified.

By 9:40 a.m. IST the benchmark Nifty 50 index fell by 0.8% to 23,678, and the BSE Sensex dropped by 0.91%, to 75,700.9, putting both indexes on track for a fifth consecutive session of losses.

This week they have lost between 2.7% and 3.1%, which is their worst performance for the last four months.

U.S. president Donald?Trump on Thursday promised to "majorly punish" Iran and its Houthi ally after Yemeni 'fighters' attacked two Saudi oil tanks in the Red Sea. This extended the Middle East conflict to a second major shipping chokepoint.

The rising oil price poses a major risk to?India as the third largest crude importer and consumer in the world. It will increase inflation, widen the trade deficit, and squeeze growth and corporate margins.

Sunny Agrawal is the head of fundamental analysis at SBI Securities. She said, "The fears over Mideast tensions were further amplified by a sharp increase in crude oil prices this week, which hurt investor sentiment."

Agrawal said that "Broader?markets are also under pressure. This reflects a cautious risk appetite in investments. Developments around the U.S. Iran Conflict and oil price movements will likely drive market direction over the short term."

15 of the 16 major sectors posted losses. Small-caps and midcaps both fell by 0.8%.

After disappointing results for the June quarter, Infosys and Interglobe Aviation both fell by about 1.7%.

Oil marketing -companies BPCL HPCL and Indian Oil each fell about 2% on the rise in crude oil prices.

Ramco Systems' quarterly profit dropped by?10%.

Cyient?and Suryoday Small Finance Bank, which buck the trend, gained 2% ad 7% respectively, after posting a rise in their June quarter profit.

(source: Reuters)