Indian shares may fall as crude hits $108 on rising Mideast risks

Business Recorder reported that Indian equities were poised for a steep decline at Friday's opening after Brent crude climbed to $108 a barrel. The jump came as a widening conflict in the Middle East pushed investors away from riskier holdings. GIFT Nifty futures pointed to a weak start for the Nifty 50, which had closed Thursday at 23,477.8.

Houthi forces aligned with Iran reportedly captured the Yemeni city of Mocha on Thursday and moved along the Red Sea shoreline toward strategic islands, according to military sources. The development came shortly after President Donald Trump voiced an expectation that the Iran conflict would finish once the US midterms were over. Traffic through the Red Sea is now at risk, and tanker attacks are escalating, keeping Gulf passage through the Strait of Hormuz constrained.

The Nifty and Sensex dropped 1.8% and 2.1% this week, a fifth consecutive weekly fall. An extensive IPO calendar, with big offerings from National Stock Exchange of India and possibly Jio Platforms, backed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has also weighed on sentiment. Costlier oil has also fuelled inflation fears and pushed bond yields worldwide to fresh peaks. Provisional figures show overseas investors were net sellers of Indian equities worth 4.38 billion rupees ($45.89 million) on Thursday, and their September outflows now total $1.36 billion.