Geopolitical uncertainty in West Asia continues to weigh on global markets, with fears that the conflict may not end soon dragging sentiment. Asian markets opened and are trading lower. Crude oil briefly climbed towards $100 before easing.
Gift Nifty, in derivatives trading at GIFT City, closed at 24,218.00 on Thursday night. It dipped to 24,138 this morning before recovering slightly, signalling a mildly negative start for the Nifty today.
A 10-day ceasefire has come into effect in Lebanon, with Israel halting operations against Hezbollah following US pressure. Hezbollah is backed by Iran.
The ceasefire could help revive US-Iran talks. US President Donald Trump claimed Iran has agreed to give up enriched uranium and pause its nuclear programme for 20 years, though Tehran has not responded. Pakistan’s Army chief also held talks with Iranian leadership yesterday.
Progress on the geopolitical front helped US markets extend their record run.
Dow Jones rose 115 points (0.24 percent) to close at 48,578.72
S&P 500 gained 18.33 points (0.26 percent) to 7,041.28
Nasdaq climbed 86.69 points (0.36 percent) to 24,102.70
Nasdaq has now risen for 12 straight sessions, while S&P has advanced in 10 of the last 12 days.
US futures are slightly higher this morning:
Dow up 80 points (0.16 percent)
S&P up 0.11 percent
Nasdaq up 0.03 percent
HDFC Bank ADR fell 2.62 percent but recovered 1.48 percent in after-hours to $26.82
ICICI Bank ADR slipped 0.28 percent, later rising 0.32 percent to $28.47
Infosys ADR gained 0.49 percent and added 0.07 percent further to $14.39
Wipro ADR dropped 4.85 percent, then recovered 0.93 percent to $2.18
European markets moved mixed on Thursday. UK GDP grew 0.5 percent in February, above expectations of 0.1 percent. Inflation in the Eurozone rose to 2.6 percent in March amid geopolitical tensions.
Asian markets are weak today:
Nikkei down 0.85 percent
Kospi down 0.60 percent
Australian index down 0.50 percent
Chinese and Hong Kong markets also opened lower. Notably, China’s GDP grew 5 percent in the January–March quarter, beating expectations of 4.8 percent.
Despite a strong start on hopes of easing tensions, Indian markets ended slightly lower yesterday due to profit booking.
Sensex swung over 1,000 points from its high before closing lower
Mid cap and small cap indices have recovered to pre-conflict levels
Flows:
FIIs were marginal buyers: ₹382.36 crore
DIIs were heavy sellers: ₹3,427.75 crore
Closing levels:
Sensex fell 122.56 points (0.16 percent) to 77,988.68
Nifty declined 34.55 points (0.14 percent) to 24,196.75
Bank Nifty lost 0.38 percent to 56,086.40
Mid cap 100 rose 0.63 percent to 59,146.75
Small cap 100 gained 0.89 percent to 17,308.85
Market breadth remained positive, with more stocks advancing than declining.
Wipro’s Q4 results disappointed the Street:
Revenue rose 7.7 percent
Net profit fell 1.9 percent
Margin slipped to 17.3 percent from 17.6 percent
The company warned of a possible 2 percent revenue decline in the current quarter.
Wipro also announced a ₹15,000 crore buyback at ₹250 per share, covering 5.7 percent of equity. In 2023, it had bought back shares at ₹445.
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank will announce results tomorrow.
Gold remained highly volatile due to geopolitical uncertainty.
Moved in the $4,773–$4,839 range on Thursday
Closed marginally lower at $4,791.30 per ounce
Fell to around $4,779 this morning
In Kerala, 22-carat gold rose ₹160 to ₹1,14,080 per sovereign.
Silver surged to $80.96 before closing at $78.56; it eased further to $78.18 this morning.
Other metals:
Platinum: $2,072
Palladium: $1,534
Rhodium: $9,600
Industrial metals showed mixed trends:
Copper rose 0.19 percent to $13,178.85 per tonne
Aluminium gained 0.88 percent to $3,652.10
Nickel, tin and lead declined, while zinc edged higher.
Agri and others:
Rubber rose 0.44 percent to 203.50 cents/kg
Cocoa fell 1.66 percent to $3,504 per tonne
Coffee dropped 2.55 percent to 290.65 cents/lb
Palm oil gained slightly to 4,476 Malaysian ringgit/tonne
Polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC prices rose up to 1.78 percent. Urea fell 1.01 percent to $713 per tonne, while DAP remained steady at $730.
The US dollar index rose to 98.22 and edged up further to 98.26 this morning.
Euro slipped to $1.1782
Pound fell to $1.3524
Yen weakened to 159.21 per dollar
Yuan held at 6.82 per dollar
US 10-year bond yield rose to 4.31 percent.
The rupee gained against the dollar, which fell 18 paise to close at ₹93.19.
With crude easing after recent gains, the rupee may remain supported today.
In the NDF market, the dollar dropped to ₹92.99.
Brent crude rose near $100 amid ceasefire uncertainty before easing:
Closed at $99.39
Fell to around $98.39 this morning
WTI is at $93.37, while June futures dropped to $89.98. UAE’s Murban crude stands at $101.66.
India’s crude basket has eased to $110.52.
Cryptocurrencies weakened amid uncertainty:
Bitcoin slipped below $75,000
Ether held above $2,345
Solana stayed above $89
Sensex: 77,988.68 (-0.16%)
Nifty 50: 24,196.75 (-0.14%)
Bank Nifty: 56,086.40 (-0.38%)
Midcap 100: 59,146.75 (+0.63%)
Smallcap 100: 17,308.85 (+0.89%)
Dow Jones: 48,578.72 (+0.24%)
S&P 500: 7,041.28 (+0.26%)
Nasdaq: 24,102.70 (+0.36%)
Dollar: ₹93.19 (-₹0.18)
Gold (oz): $4,791.30 (-0.70)
Gold (sovereign): ₹1,14,080 (+₹160)
Brent crude: $99.39 (+$4.66)