By Vivek Kumar M
April 23 (Reuters) – Indian shares slipped early on Thursday, with financials and automakers leading losses, as Brent crude topped $100 a barrel after Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz and peace talks showed no sign of resuming.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.38% to 24,284.6, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.54% to 78,092.61 as of 10:02 a.m. IST.
Twelve of the 16 major sectors fell. Small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
Asian markets fell 1%, while Brent crude rose for a fourth straight session to $103 a barrel amid uncertainty over Middle East peace talks. [O/R]
HSBC downgraded Indian equities to “underweight” from “neutral”, citing the impact of high energy prices on India. It was the bank’s second downgrade in less than a month.
“(With) the price of Brent crude bouncing back to $103, there is increasing risk to global growth in general and higher risk to India’s macros in particular,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.
Auto stocks lost 1.3%, and were among the top three sectoral losers. Heavyweight financials fell 0.8%, led by 1.6% drop in ICICI Bank and 0.8% loss in HDFC Bank.
Concerns over persistent foreign outflows also weighed on financials.
Foreign investors have net sold Indian shares worth $4.3 billion in April and $18.5 billion so far in 2026.
Bucking trend, pharma stocks jumped 2.3% on strong growth prospects.
Nomura said the India pharmaceuticals market continued to grow in double digits at 10.1% year-on-year in March. The brokerage said most companies under its coverage grew ahead of expectations during the month.
Reacting to quarterly results, Bharat Coking Coal fell over 5%, while Oracle Financial Software Services rose 5.7%.
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)