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Indian Equities Fall on Friday as Middle East Tensions Weigh on Sentiment

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-- Indian benchmark indices ended lower on Friday as renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and selling in banking stocks weighed on the market.

The BSE Sensex fell 516.33 points, or 0.7%, to close at 77,328.19, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 150.50 points, or 0.6%, to settle at 24,176.15.

Sentiment remained cautious after reports of fresh clashes between U.S. and Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz. Investors also tracked developments around the proposed US-Iran peace deal. Iran reportedly said it is still reviewing America's latest proposal.

Among stocks, State Bank of India (NSE:SBIN, BOM:500112) dropped 7% after reporting a marginal rise in consolidated Q4 profit to 196.4 billion rupees from 195.0 billion rupees a year earlier. Earnings per share slipped to 21.28 rupees from 21.96 rupees despite higher interest income.

RailTel Corp. of India (NSE:RAILTEL, BOM:543265) fell 2% despite securing an order of 249.1 million rupees from The New India Assurance Company for an AI and machine learning-based fraud monitoring solution.

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