Global markets opened the week on a highly optimistic note amid growing expectations of a possible peace agreement in West Asia.
Reports suggest that negotiations are progressing towards ending the US-Israel conflict with Iran, including a proposed 60-day ceasefire, talks on the nuclear issue and an understanding to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipping. Against this backdrop, crude oil prices dropped more than 5 percent, gold rebounded sharply, the dollar index weakened, US stock futures surged and Asian markets opened with strong gains.
Gift Nifty, which closed at 23,765 on Friday night in derivative trading at GIFT City, climbed to 23,998 this morning, signalling a strong opening for Indian equities.
Markets in the US, Hong Kong and South Korea are closed today. (Indian markets will remain shut on Thursday.)
US markets ended higher on Friday amid optimism over the Iran talks. The Dow Jones index hit a fresh record, while the S&P 500 closed higher for the eighth consecutive week.
Dow Jones gained 294.04 points (0.58 percent) to close at 50,579.70
S&P 500 rose 27.75 points (0.37 percent) to 7,473.47
Nasdaq advanced 50.87 points (0.19 percent) to 26,343.97
US futures surged this morning:
Dow Jones futures up 313 points (0.62 percent)
S&P 500 futures up 56 points (0.75 percent)
Nasdaq futures jumped 369 points (1.25 percent)
Indian ADRs traded mixed in New York on Friday.
HDFC Bank ADR rose 0.49 percent and gained another 1.05 percent in after-hours trade to close at $25
ICICI Bank ADR gained 0.35 percent during regular trade but slipped 1.39 percent later to $25.62
Infosys ADR rose 0.24 percent and added another 1.02 percent in extended trade to close at $12.80
Wipro ADR climbed 1.52 percent and edged up a further 0.03 percent to close at $2.01
European equities closed higher on Friday. Spanish cosmetics company Puig plunged 13.4 percent after talks for a business partnership with US-based Estée Lauder reportedly collapsed. Estée Lauder shares surged 10.7 percent.
Asian markets are trading firmly higher today.
Japan’s Nikkei jumped 3.2 percent
Australia’s index gained 0.40 percent
Shanghai market opened 0.25 percent higher
Indian markets opened with modest gains on Friday, surged sharply and later pared some of the gains before closing higher. Iran-related developments and crude oil prices dictated market direction through the session.
The Sensex retreated nearly 400 points from the day’s high, while the Nifty slipped 115 points from peak levels.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued heavy selling.
FIIs sold shares worth ₹4,440.47 crore in the cash market on Friday
Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹6,003.53 crore
FIIs have sold shares worth ₹30,374 crore so far in May
Total FII selling this year has crossed ₹2.22 lakh-crore
FIIs had sold ₹1,66,286 crore worth of equities in 2025
Healthcare, pharma, IT, media, realty and FMCG stocks declined, while banking, financials, metals, consumer durables and auto shares advanced.
Sensex rose 231.99 points (0.31 percent) to 75,415.35
Nifty gained 64.60 points (0.27 percent) to 23,719.30
Bank Nifty climbed 615.95 points (1.15 percent) to 54,055.35
Mid cap 100 index added 88.70 points (0.14 percent) to 61,389.70
Small cap 100 index slipped 26.85 points (0.15 percent) to 17,956.20
Market breadth remained positive.
On BSE, 2,168 shares advanced while 2,027 declined
On NSE, 1,744 shares gained and 1,522 fell
A fire accident at Novelis’ US plant led to additional costs of ₹4,171 crore, pulling down Hindalco’s fourth-quarter net profit by more than half. However, net profit from its India business alone rose 88 percent.
Torrent Pharma’s revenue grew 41.8 percent, but remained below expectations. Higher depreciation and interest expenses weighed on profitability.
Divi’s Labs reported a 10 percent rise in revenue and a 13 percent increase in net profit for the fourth quarter. Profit margin stood at 33 percent.
Eicher Motors posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Revenue rose 16 percent
Net profit increased 11.5 percent
Royal Enfield sales jumped 22 percent to 12,27,977 units
TTK Prestige swung from a loss of ₹42 crore to a profit of ₹36 crore in the fourth quarter. Revenue increased 12.26 percent.
Revenue rose 23 percent in the fourth quarter while net profit more than doubled.
Dalmia Bharat signed an agreement with the Adani Group to acquire cement assets of the Jaypee Group in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Investment: ₹2,850 crore
Additional capacity: 5.2 million tonnes annually
Total Dalmia Bharat capacity to rise to 54.7 million tonnes
Major progress in Iran-related negotiations triggered a sharp rebound in gold prices this morning after last week’s correction.
Gold had closed on Friday down $33.60 at $4,510.50 an ounce. This morning, prices jumped 1.5 percent to touch $4,580 before easing slightly to around $4,565. Market participants expect further upside in gold.
Analysts believe that if the conflict ends and the Strait of Hormuz remains open, crude oil prices could decline significantly, easing global inflation pressures. That could reduce the likelihood of further interest rate hikes, which is supportive for gold prices.
In Kerala, 22-carat gold prices declined by ₹320 per sovereign each on Friday and Saturday to ₹1,16,640. Prices are expected to rebound sharply today.
Silver, which closed at $75.61 an ounce on Friday, surged nearly 4 percent this morning to $78.60.
Other precious metals:
Platinum: $1,965
Palladium: $1,365
Rhodium: $8,850
Industrial metals continued to strengthen on Friday.
Copper rose 0.87 percent to $13,544
Aluminium gained 0.35 percent to $3,653.45
Lead, zinc, nickel and tin also advanced
Rubber prices edged higher in international markets.
Bangkok RSS3 rose to $290 per quintal
RSS1 stood at $293.50
In Kerala, RSS4 rubber slipped to ₹25,200.
Cocoa prices also edged higher, rising 0.77 percent to $3,796 per tonne on Friday.
The US dollar index edged lower to close at 99.24 on Friday and slipped further to 98.99 this morning.
Euro weakened to $1.1646
Pound slipped to $1.3484
Japanese yen strengthened to 158.85 per dollar
Chinese yuan strengthened to 6.79 per dollar
US 10-year bond yield eased to 4.558 percent this morning.
Lower crude oil prices and dollar sales by the Reserve Bank helped the rupee strengthen again on Friday.
The dollar fell 51 paise to close at ₹95.69. The rupee is expected to gain further today.
The rupee has appreciated 1.2 percent in two days. The dollar had closed at ₹96.96 on Wednesday.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) market this morning:
Dollar slipped to ₹95.45
Chinese yuan eased to ₹14.06
Euro declined to ₹110.92
Progress in Iran-US negotiations pushed crude oil prices below $100 a barrel.
Brent crude, which had closed at $103.54 a barrel on Friday, dropped 5.2 percent this morning to as low as $98.12. WTI crude slipped to $91.48 before recovering slightly.
Cryptocurrencies rebounded after weekend weakness.
Bitcoin, which had slipped below $76,000 over the weekend, climbed back above $77,000
Ether traded above $2,100
Solana remained above $85
Sensex: 75,415.35 (+0.31%)
Nifty 50: 23,719.30 (+0.27%)
Bank Nifty: 54,055.35 (+1.15%)
Mid cap 100: 61,389.30 (+0.14%)
Small cap 100: 17,956.20 (-0.15%)
Dow Jones: 50,579.70 (+0.58%)
S&P 500: 7,473.47 (+0.37%)
Nasdaq: 26,343.97 (+0.19%)
Dollar: ₹95.69 (-₹0.51)
Gold (ounce): $4,510.50 (-$33.60)
Gold (sovereign): ₹1,16,960 (-₹320)
Saturday: ₹1,16,640 (-₹320)
Brent crude: $103.54 (+$0.96)