India, Sept. 9 -- Indian equity markets opened lower on Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices closer to $100 a barrel and weighed on investor sentiment.

The BSE Sensex fell 474.44 points, or 0.63%, to 75,103.14, while the Nifty 50 dropped 140.60 points, or 0.59%, to 23,494.50 in early trade.

The decline comes after both indices lost 2.2% over the past seven sessions, falling in six of them. They closed Tuesday at their lowest levels since June 12.

Brent crude futures jumped 1.5% to $99.5 a barrel after the Middle East conflict intensified. Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launched strikes on several Saudi cities, while US forces hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran struck a US base in Jordan. ...