Indian shares fell as a fresh escalation in the Middle East conflict and a sharp jump in US inflation triggered risk-off sentiment across global equities, Reuters reports.

The benchmark Nifty 50 fell 0.31pc at 23,144.4, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.34pc to 73,739.13, as of 9:45am IST.

Eleven of 16 major sectors logged losses. The broader small-caps and mid-caps fell about 0.2pc each.

“The combined impact of geopolitics, artificial intelligence and El-Nino risk has resulted in a subdued sentiment in Indian markets, particularly among foreign investors,” said Surendra Goyal and Vijit Jain, analysts at Citi Research.