India's Sensex opened today at 74,272.40 points, down 555.85 points, or 0.74%, after crude oil prices surged past $100 a barrel following Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's declaration to the UN General Assembly that Iran will not yield to US pressure. Fourteen of the sixteen major sector indices fell in morning trade, with small-cap and mid-cap indices down 0.7% and 1% respectively, while banking and financial stocks dropped 1.5% and 1.8%. Banking and insurance shares led the decline after the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India proposed a major overhaul of commission payout rules, capping commissions based on product complexity and phasing out the concentration of life insurance commissions in the first policy year in favour of payouts spread over the long term. Investors are also watching the trading debut of the National Stock Exchange of India, the country's largest bourse, with shares expected to rise only modestly, around 2% to 3%.
Article only notes NSE's trading debut is expected to rise modestly 2-3%, with no stated cause for the move.
