(Reuters) -India's benchmark indexes fell on Tuesday as investors stayed on edge after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to evacuate Tehran, stoking fears of a broader regional conflict amid ongoing Israel-Iran hostilities.
The Nifty 50 was down 0.37% to 24,853.4 and the BSE Sensex fell 0.26% to 81,583.3.
"Trump's remarks have spooked markets as investors are flying blind on how Middle East and trade tensions will play out," said Pramod Gubbi, co-founder of Marcellus Investment Managers.
Global stocks slipped, safe-haven gold rose and oil prices climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump cut short his visit to the Group of Seven summit in Canada while reports said he ordered the National Security Council to be on alert in the situation room. [MKTS/GLOB]
Rising crude prices hurt commodity importers like India, where oil makes up a large portion of the import bill. [O/R]
India's trade ties with the region may be limited, but an Iranian threat to block the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a huge damage for domestic economy, said Bernstein analysts Venugopal Garre and Nikhil Arela.
"A prolonged war risks imported inflation, stripping the government of tools to support growth and dragging markets lower," they said.
Twelve of the 13 major sectors logged losses, on the day. The broader smallcaps and midcaps fell about 0.7% each.
Among individual stocks, Tata Motors fell 1.7%, adding to the 3.6% drop in the previous session, with multiple brokerages flagging the JLR margin guidance for fiscal 2026 was below market expectations.
Navin Fluorine rose 4.2% after Jefferies reiterated "buy" citing strong earnings momentum due to a capex monetisation pick-up.
Mahanagar Gas rose 3.1% after Nomura termed the city gas distributor its top pick in the sector.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Eileen Soreng)
By Bharath Rajeswaran
