The move towards economic sanctions against Iran has reduced expectations of war. Crude oil prices have fallen on this assessment, with Brent crude trading near $86 a barrel.
Asian markets are mostly higher today, following gains in the US market yesterday.
In derivatives trading at GIFT City, GIFT Nifty closed at 24,507.00 on Tuesday night. It rose to 24,564 this morning. This indicates that the Indian market could begin today's session with significant gains.
US markets ended higher yesterday as crude oil prices declined and bond prices rose. A rebound in semiconductor chip companies also lifted the market.
Results from AI chipmaker Nvidia are due this evening and could influence the direction of the market. A decline in the Consumer Confidence Index and the tariff war with Canada could also affect trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 160.24 points, or 0.30%, on Tuesday to close at 53,577.40.
The S&P 500 gained 24.42 points, or 0.32%, to end at 7,677.28. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 171.11 points, or 0.66%, to close at 26,151.30.
US futures are trading lower.
Dow futures are down 23 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures have declined 6 points, or 0.07%, while Nasdaq futures are down 37 points, or 0.13%.
In the American Depositary Receipt market in New York, HDFC Bank gained 0.38% during regular trading on Tuesday before losing 0.15% in after-hours trade to close at $23.59.
ICICI Bank surged 2.53% during regular trading and gained another 0.20% in after-hours trade to close at $30.45.
Infosys rose 1.78% during regular trading before declining 0.25% in after-hours trade to close at $12.00.
Wipro was unchanged during regular trading and gained 0.53% in after-hours trade to close at $1.89.
European markets moved in different directions on Tuesday.
Indices rose in Germany and the UK, while markets in France and the broader European market declined.
Asian markets are trading higher today.
South Korea's Kospi gained 0.25%. Japan's Nikkei declined 0.50%, while the Australian market rose 0.55%.
Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan are also trading higher.
The Indian market opened higher yesterday before moving into negative territory, but a surge in the final hour helped it close with strong gains. Lower crude oil prices were the main reason.
The auction held after cash-market trading ended also caused significant changes in the benchmark indices.
Yesterday was the monthly derivatives settlement day, and the unexpected movement in the indices caused losses for many traders.
The Nifty Midcap 100 touched a record 64,169.80 before closing marginally below that level.
All sectors except private banks and metals ended higher. Healthcare, consumer durables, pharmaceuticals, information technology and automobiles were among the sectors that made strong gains.
Foreign investors remained buyers yesterday, recording net purchases of ₹1,593.53 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors were also net buyers to the tune of ₹230.26 crore.
The Sensex rose 286.98 points, or 0.37%, on Tuesday to close at 77,656.09.
The Nifty gained 115.50 points, or 0.48%, to end at 24,334.55.
The Bank Nifty declined 11.75 points, or 0.02%, to close at 57,514.20.
The Nifty Midcap 100 advanced 345.65 points, or 0.54%, to end at 64,162.90.
The Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 20.15 points, or 0.10%, to close at 19,906.60.
More stocks declined than advanced in the broader market. On the BSE, 2,007 stocks rose and 2,330 fell. On the NSE, 1,663 stocks advanced while 1,830 declined.
Shares of public-sector fertiliser companies surged yesterday following reports that Russia would supply more fertilisers. FACT gained 11.43%.
Hindustan Copper shares fell 7.45% after the government decided to sell a 6% stake through an offer for sale.
Paytm advanced 5.24% to reach its highest level since December 2021. The stock has surged 81% since March.
A report that Federal Bank could acquire Bengaluru-based Jana Small Finance Bank sent Federal Bank shares down as much as 3.5% yesterday. Jana SFB fell 4.5%.
Jana Holdings, the promoter of Jana SFB, has been unable to repay a ₹700 crore loan taken from private equity firm TPG Asia.
Jana Holdings, which recently sold a 4.9% stake in the bank, now holds 16.9%. Federal Bank is in talks to acquire this stake. If it does so, it would have to acquire additional shares through an open offer.
Jana SFB has loans of ₹37,612 crore and deposits of ₹35,756 crore. It has a presence across 826 locations, including branches, in 23 states.
Federal Bank has 1,650 branches and total business of ₹3.93 lakh crore.
The acquisition would help Federal Bank expand into northern Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. It would also strengthen its presence in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
Gold, which has recorded its best monthly gain since 1999 at 15%, came under selling pressure from profit-takers yesterday.
French wealth management group Natixis expects gold to reach $5,000 an ounce by December.
Gold rose as high as $4,697.50 an ounce yesterday before closing $7.10 higher at $4,659.90. It fell to around $4,645 an ounce this morning.
In Kerala, the price of 22-carat gold declined by ₹160 per sovereign yesterday to ₹1,20,080.
Silver edged lower on Tuesday to close at $68.80 an ounce.
Platinum stood at $1,853, palladium at $1,327 and rhodium at $8,400.
International rubber prices rose marginally, while prices remained unchanged in Kerala.
In Bangkok, RSS-1 reached $286.50 per quintal and RSS-3 $282.95 per quintal.
In Kerala, RSS-4 remained at ₹27,400 per quintal.
Industrial metals move in different directions
Industrial metals moved in different directions on Tuesday.
Copper gained 0.56% to reach $14,423.80 a tonne.
Aluminium declined 0.06% to $3,220.49.
Zinc and lead advanced, while tin and nickel declined.
Cocoa prices fell 1.70% to close at $5,844 a tonne.
Ghana's Cocoa Board estimates that adverse weather will reduce production by 13%. Production in Ivory Coast is expected to fall by more than 10%.
The two countries are the world's largest cocoa producers.
Arabica coffee prices fell 199% to $3.349 a pound. There are concerns that El Niño could reduce production.
Palm oil, which had risen above 5,000 Malaysian ringgit a tonne over the weekend, fell to 4,946 ringgit.
The US Dollar Index declined on Tuesday to close at 98.92. It fell further to 98.90 this morning.
The euro rose to $1.1674 and the pound to $1.3647.
The Japanese yen stood at 159.15 to the dollar. The Chinese yuan remained at 6.72 to the dollar.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.637% on Tuesday. The 30-year Treasury yield declined to 5.236%.
The Indian rupee ended Tuesday with strong gains. A three-and-a-half per cent fall in crude oil prices was the main reason. The rupee could strengthen further today.
The dollar declined by 34 paise to close at ₹95.41.
In the offshore forward market, the dollar fell to ₹95.14 this morning before recovering to ₹95.25.
The Chinese yuan declined to ₹14.20 and the euro to ₹111.38.
Crude oil prices are declining.
The market believes the US move towards economic sanctions against Iran has reduced the likelihood of war.
Crude oil fell 4% yesterday and declined another 2% today.
Brent crude fell $3.59 on Tuesday to close at $88.58 a barrel. It declined further this morning to $86.33.
West Texas Intermediate crude is at $80.49 a barrel.
Cryptocurrencies continued their rally yesterday before retreating later.
The cryptocurrency rally over the past week crossed 20%, with Bitcoin reaching $81,240.68 yesterday. It later fell below $78,700.
Ether is below $2,450 today, while Solana has fallen below $97.
Tuesday, 25 August 2026