Conflict worries may keep mkts jittery in near term

Indian equity markets may remain volatile in the near term with the Iran-Israel conflict likely to become a "localised" affair like the Russia-Ukraine war, analysts said on Thursday, advising investors to use this opportunity to buy quality largecap and select mid, and smallcap stocks.

- NIKITA VASHISHT

At best, they expect the benchmarks - BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 - to slide another 2-3 per cent from hereon.

"The West Asia war may become a localised war, like the Russia-Ukraine war, with people accepting it as a 'part of life'. We believe equity markets may remain volatile in the near term, correcting another 1-3 per cent till Israel's response to Iran's missile attack is unknown," said G Chokkalingam, founder and head of research, Equinomics Research.

The BSE Sensex, on Thursday, plummeted 1,832 points intraday, breaking the 82,500 mark in the process. The Nifty 50 sank 567 points, giving up the 25,250 mark during the day.

At close, however, the BSE Sensex stood at 82,497, down 1,769 points or 2 per cent. The Nifty 50 broke the 25,300 mark to close at 25,250, down 547 points or 2.12 per cent, making investors poorer by ₹9.6 trillion.