June 14, 2025 - The Indian stock market slumped on June 13 on the back of escalating Middle East conflict. A sharp spike in Brent crude prices led to volatility when trade opened in the morning and Sensex and Nifty witnessed their sharpest decline in two months. The benchmark indices fell up to 1.7% intraday before recovering to close down around 0.70%. 

Brent crude prices marked the largest single-day rise since March 17, 2022. It shot up 13.48% to $78.50 per barrel before dropping to $74.81. This was its highest level since January 28, 2025. 

The geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region have increased following Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military installations at daybreak on June 13. With Iran retaliating, the situation is being viewed as the beginning of a prolonged conflict between the two nations and has increased investor anxiety leading to panic selling. 

Shares of the Adani Group, in particular, plunged sharply in the last two trading days. This is because Gautam Adani, Asia’s second-richest individual and head of the Adani Group, has made significant investments in Israel. The escalating Middle East crisis has placed Adani’s Israel portfolio at a critical crossroads of uncertainty. The Adani Group has invested heavily in strategic sectors such as the Haifa Port and defence in Israel, including a defence JV with Elbit. However, the Israel-Iran conflict has posed a growing threat to Adani’s multi-billion-dollar investments in the Middle East which made investors wary and rattled the stock markets.

Additionally, Adani's plan to set up a $10 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in collaboration with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor,  has reportedly been put on hold. The likely reason is the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

With Media Inputs