IndiGo, SpiceJet shares fall up to 4% after PM Modi urges Indians to avoid non-essential foreign travel

Shares of domestic aviation companies - IndiGo and SpiceJet - fell over 4% on Monday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to reduce fuel consumption, avoid non-essential foreign travel, and prioritise domestic spending against the backdrop of the West Asia crisis.

The sell-off in aviation stocks was in sync with the broader market, with the Sensex and Nifty 50 tumbling up to 1.5% in the first hour of trade. Among Sensex constituents, 28 out of 30 stocks were in the red, barring NTPC and HCL Tech. Titan Company was the top loser, declining 5.61%, followed by InterGlobe Aviation, State Bank of India, Eternal, among others.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of India’s largest airline IndiGo, skidded as much as 4.4% to ₹4,321.05 on the BSE, while its market capitalisation dropped to ₹1.67 lakh crore. Similarly, the share price of SpiceJet also slipped over 4% to ₹13.41, taking its market value to ₹2,090 crore.

The sell-off was triggered after Brent crude prices surged back to $105 per barrel following renewed uncertainty over the West Asia crisis after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly rejected Iran’s latest communication, dimming hopes of an early resolution. Investors also priced in the likelihood of higher aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs, which account for 30–40% of airlines’ total operating expenses in India, thereby eating into margins.

Market sentiment was further impacted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to citizens to curb consumption of petrol and diesel, gold, chemical fertilisers, and edible oil, while also discouraging avoidable foreign travel as part of efforts to manage pressure on the current account deficit arising from high crude prices.

“PM Modi’s appeal to the nation to curb the consumption of petrol/diesel, gold, chemical fertilisers, and edible oil, and refrain from avoidable foreign travel, is a crisis-management response to the current account deficit problem caused by high crude prices. This call for austerity has slightly negative implications for economic growth in FY27,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

Meanwhile, oil stocks were among the notable losers, with the Nifty Oil & Gas index dropping over 1%. Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Indian Oil Corporation fell up to 3% as higher crude prices raised worries over marketing margin pressure. City gas distribution players such as Mahanagar Gas, Indraprastha Gas, Gujarat Gas, and Adani Total Gas also traded lower, slipping up to 4%.

Other major losers in the pack included GAIL (India), Petronet LNG, Reliance Industries, Gujarat State Petronet, Aegis Logistics, and Castrol India, which declined up to 2%.

In contrast, upstream exploration companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India traded marginally higher, supported by expectations of stronger realisations from elevated crude oil prices.