Indian shares fell notably on Friday to extend steep losses from the previous session as Middle East worries persisted and investors awaited the release of all-important U.S. jobs report later in the day for additional clues on the Feds rate trajectory.
The dollar was poised for its largest weekly gain since April and oil prices headed for weekly gains of about 9 percent sparked by fears of escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Israel carried out a series of massive airstrikes overnight in the southern suburbs of Beirut and another that cut off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that the U.S. and its allies were preserving the security of Israel to make it an energy exporting gate from the region to the West, but that the resistance in the region would not back down against Israel.
The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex ended the session down 808.65 points, or 0.98 percent, at 81,688.45 while the broader NSE Nifty index settled at 25,049.85, down 200.25 points, or 0.79 percent, from its previous close.
Among the prominent decliners, BPCL, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra dropped 2-4 percent.