India’s BSE Sensex finished about 0.7% down at 75,577.6 on Tuesday, a level last seen in June and marking the second session of losses. The ongoing rally in oil prices and escalating hostilities in the Middle East continued to weigh on market sentiment, while concerns persisted over volatility stemming from the new closing-auction pricing mechanism. Banking heavyweights were among the key drags, led by a 2% decline in ICICI Bank, while Axis Bank and HDFC Bank fell 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively. Reliance Industries and UltraTech Cement declined 1.2% each. On the upside, Indian defense companies such as BEL (1.5%) rose after the government gave an initial approval for about $11 billion of proposed military purchases.