Day: March 9, 2026

Bahrain’s Bapco Energies declares ‘force majeure’ after Iran attack| Business News

‘Think of the unthinkable and prepare for it’, IMF warns on Iran war impact on global economy| Business News

The International Monetary Fund has warned of inflation risks from an escalating Iran war, as a direct fallout is the surge in crude oil prices. MF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. (Reuters) A 10% increase in crude oil prices, if it sustains throughout the year, can result in a 40-basis-point increase in global inflation, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. “We are seeing resilience tested again by the new conflict in the Middle East,” Georgieva said, speaking in a symposium hosted by Japan’s finance ministry. “My advice to policymakers in this new global environment is think of the unthinkable and prepare for it.”

Iran war wipes out ₹25 lakh crore in investor wealth in just five sessions| Business News

India’s stock market extended their steepest slide in six years due to an escalating Iran war. That’s wiped out more than ₹25 lakh crore in investor wealth since the strife began. The Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai. (Reuters) The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 3.16%—or 2,494.35 points—to 76,424.55 points, while the wider NSE Nifty 50 shed up to 3.07% to an intraday low of 23,697.80 points. The recovery was patchy at best by midday. The turmoil is fuelled by crude oil prices, which have surged enough to test $120/barrel levels. Every $10 rise in oil adds roughly 40 basis points to India’s current account deficit. Markets are pricing that in very fast. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Swift, and severe damage A truncated trading week through 6 March—India’s stock market was closed on account of Holi on Tuesday, 3 March—did precious little to arrest the slide in India’s equity benchmarks. When the Nifty 50 opened on Monday, March 2—the first session after the war began—it gapped down 685 points, or 2.68%, to close at 24,865. Wednesday (4 March) brought a second wave of selling, dragging the index a further 560 points to 24,305—its lowest close since mid-2024 and the sharpest two-session retreat since the pandemic crash of March 2020. A brief dead-cat bounce on Thursday (5 March 2026) recovered 461 points to 24,766, only for sellers to return on Friday, clipping the index back to 24,450. The net weekly loss from the pre-war close of 25,550 stood at 1,100 points, or 4.31%, across just four trading sessions. Flight of foreign capital Foreign institutional investors were relentless sellers throughout, pulling roughly ₹21,000 crore ($2.3 billion) from Indian equities between 2 and 6 March. The combined market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies fell from ₹463.9 lakh crore to below ₹440 lakh crore—wealth destruction equivalent to nearly one-seventh of India’s annual GDP. With Monday’s continued selloff, that figure has since crossed ₹25 lakh crore. Sectoral damage has been broadly spread but concentrated in financials and consumer discretionary names. IndiGo, India’s dominant carrier operated by Interglobe Aviation Ltd., has lost more than 7% as jet fuel costs surge. Banks, battered by expectations of delayed repo rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India, have fallen sharply as a group. Only a handful of index constituents have sort-of held their ground—Coal India and Reliance Industries among them—as investors rotate toward commodity-linked names that benefit from elevated energy prices. More pain incoming? Analysts warn the pain could deepen. Oil at $120 per barrel would push India’s fiscal deficit 30–40 basis points wider than budgeted, potentially forcing the government to trim capital expenditure or subsidise fuel—either outcome is negative for growth. The RBI now faces a stagflationary dilemma. Domestic institutional investors have provided some cushion, absorbing a portion of the FII outflows and preventing a more disorderly selloff. Still, with Brent crude showing no signs of retreating, equity strategists are trimming year-end Nifty targets, with some now pencilling in levels as low as 22,500 in a prolonged-war scenario.

IndiGo among worst-hit as Iran war delivers crude shock to global airline stocks| Business News

India’s airline stocks took a severe beating on Monday, leading a broader Asian market selloff as surging crude oil prices and an escalating Iran war threaten to cripple airline profit margins. For Indian airlines like IndiGo, fuel is the second-largest expense after labour, typically accounting for 20% to 25% of total operating costs. (Reuters) Shares of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., the operator of India’s largest airline IndiGo, plunged 7.5%, while budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd. dropped 5.6%. Investors are rapidly offloading stocks heavily exposed to volatile crude oil prices, even as the aviation sector braces for extended turbulence. The Jet Fuel Squeeze The sharp selloff on Dalal Street is directly tied to the underlying commodity. Crude prices jumped 20% in early Monday trading—hitting levels not seen since July 2022—driven by fears of tighter global supply and prolonged disruptions to Middle Eastern shipments. For Indian carriers, fuel is the second-largest expense after labour, typically accounting for 20% to 25% of total operating costs. With the rupee historically sensitive to oil shocks, the macro environment presents a dual headwind for domestic airlines. Furthermore, the pain at the pump for airlines is often worse than the headline crude numbers suggest. “If crude oil is rising 20%, jet fuel is rising several times more as it is even more scarce,” Subhas Menon, head of Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, told Reuters. Most airlines are also facing “significant cost to operations together with crew resources which are stretched due to longer flying times when airspace is closed”. While some global airlines use derivative contracts to hedge against fuel price spikes, carriers that do not lock in favourable rates are left fully exposed to the spot market’s volatility. Scramble for airspace and capacity The geopolitical conflict has severely constrained global airspace, forcing airlines to reroute flights, carry heavier fuel loads, or mandate additional refuelling stops to avoid active conflict zones. The disruption has essentially choked the primary transit corridors between Asia and Europe. Major Gulf hubs—including those operated by Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad, which traditionally handle a massive volume of India-to-West transit traffic—are facing severe bottlenecks. Cirium data shows that more than 37,000 flights to and from the Middle East have been canceled since the conflict began on 28 February. Capitalising on the constraints faced by these Middle Eastern giants, Tata-owned Air India has pivoted rapidly. The flag carrier has added dozens of non-stop flights to European and North American destinations through 18 March, absorbing the massive spillover demand from passengers desperate for direct routes that bypass the Gulf region entirely. ALSO READ | Sensex, Nifty 50 slump to lowest in 11 months as oil boils amid Iran war A Broader Regional Crisis The fallout extends far beyond India’s borders. The operating environment for Asian airlines, already strained by supply chain issues and economic uncertainty, has deteriorated sharply. Brendan Sobie, a Singapore-based independent aviation analyst, told Reuters that “already high levels of uncertainty have increased even further”. Reflecting this anxiety, shares in Australia’s Qantas Airways, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and major Chinese carriers tumbled between 4% and over 10% on Monday. Beyond the balance sheets, the conflict is taking a heavy operational toll. With thousands of passengers scrambling for limited commercial services, private charters, or even overland escapes, the aviation network is stretched to its limit. Furthermore, pilots report that the accumulation of restricted airspace—from Ukraine to the Middle East—is increasing mental strain as they are forced to navigate shrinking safe corridors and a barrage of military drones.