West Asia tensions have flared up again, pushing crude oil prices close to $88 a barrel. Gold has crossed $4,400 an ounce. Several Asian markets are trading higher, while US markets closed lower on Monday.
The Indian market is likely to take its short-term direction from the retail inflation data due later today.
Iran has now taken the position that there will be no negotiations on the Strait of Hormuz. It has also recalled several wartime commanders from the Iran-Iraq war era and appointed them to head key military divisions. Several posts had remained vacant after commanders were killed in the February 28 attacks. The appointments by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signal a tougher stance from Tehran.
Gift Nifty, traded through the derivatives segment at Gift City, closed at 24,618.50 on Monday night. It moved above 24,600 in morning trade today and fluctuated around 24,627. This points to a mildly negative opening for Indian equities.
India's July retail inflation data will be released this evening. A survey of financial analysts expects inflation to rise to 4.50 percent from 4.38 percent in June, with food prices accounting for much of the increase.
US retail inflation data will also be released today. Inflation is expected to remain elevated, with economists forecasting a monthly increase of 0.1 percent and an annual rise of 3.4 percent.
US markets closed slightly lower on Monday as hopes of a settlement over the Strait of Hormuz weakened.
Intel fell about 4 percent after announcing plans to raise $15 billion through a share sale. Nvidia and Apple also declined. Elon Musk's SpaceX-related stocks rose by more than 10 percent on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.95 points, or 0.11 percent, to 53,975.98. The S&P 500 declined 4.53 points, or 0.06 percent, to 7,753.11, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 85.26 points, or 0.32 percent, to 26,605.36.
US stock futures are trading mixed today amid uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz. Dow futures are down 14 points, or 0.03 percent. S&P 500 futures are up eight points, or 0.10 percent, while Nasdaq futures have gained 88 points, or 0.30 percent.
In the New York ADR market, HDFC Bank fell 0.76 percent during regular trading and declined another 0.09 percent in after-hours trading to close at $23.47. ICICI Bank fell 0.46 percent during regular trading and was unchanged in after-hours trading at $30.08.
Infosys gained 0.24 percent during regular trading and was unchanged in after-hours trading at $12.56. Wipro fell 1.49 percent during regular trading and was unchanged in after-hours trading at $1.99.
European markets closed slightly higher on Monday, although the UK's FTSE index edged lower.
Energy and semiconductor stocks posted strong gains.
Asian markets are trading mixed today. South Korea's KOSPI has gained 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei is up 2 percent.
Taiwan's benchmark is lower. Hong Kong is trading higher, while Shanghai is down.
Indian equities ended almost unchanged on Monday after a volatile session. Expectations that there will be no immediate resolution to the Strait of Hormuz issue continued to weigh on sentiment. Rising crude oil prices could become a major burden for India.
Public sector bank stocks came under heavy selling pressure. SBI fell 2.39 percent and Canara Bank declined 2.24 percent. Realty stocks, however, gained after several days of losses.
Sebi has begun examining whether market manipulation took place during the initial days of the new closing price determination mechanism. The probe comes amid a boycott call by retail investors against the new system.
Foreign investors continued to be net buyers on Monday, purchasing shares worth ₹1,974.76 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors were net sellers to the tune of ₹1,290.29 crore.
The Sensex gained 43.27 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 78,542.44. The Nifty 50 rose 13.15 points, or 0.05 percent, to 24,583.80. Bank Nifty declined 59.50 points, or 0.10 percent, to 57,686.95.
The Nifty Midcap 100 gained 392.15 points, or 0.62 percent, to 63,855.70, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 53.85 points, or 0.27 percent, to 19,813.95.
On the BSE, declining stocks outnumbered gainers, with 2,304 stocks falling against 2,148 that advanced. On the NSE, however, gainers had a slight edge, with 1,727 stocks rising and 1,687 declining.
A US district judge in Brooklyn dismissed the case against Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani. However, the court sought further clarification before deciding on the dismissal of the case against other group officials.
Vodafone Idea reduced its net loss by 63 percent in the first quarter. Zee Entertainment's first-quarter net profit fell by half.
Bharat Forge reported a first-quarter loss of ₹90 crore, mainly due to restructuring costs related to its German subsidiary.
BSE Ltd will be included in the Nifty 50 index from September 30, replacing Wipro. Wipro has been part of the index since its inception.
Gold continued its rally despite fading hopes of a resolution over the Strait of Hormuz and rising crude oil prices.
Gold gained more than 1 percent on Monday to close at $4,390.10 an ounce. It surged more than 0.70 percent this morning to touch $4,422, signalling further upside.
The retail inflation data due tomorrow will be closely watched for its impact on market sentiment.
In Kerala, 22-carat gold declined ₹280 per sovereign on Monday to ₹1,11,440.
Silver gained 3.4 percent on Monday to close at $65.60 an ounce. It rose further to $66.25 this morning.
Platinum stood at $1,759, palladium at $1,374 and rhodium at $8,325.
Industrial metals rose on Monday, except tin.
Copper gained 0.36 percent to $14,289.90. Aluminium jumped 1.29 percent to $3,321.94. Nickel, zinc and lead also gained, while tin declined.
International rubber prices declined marginally, while prices in Kerala remained unchanged.
In Bangkok, RSS 1 was quoted at $283.50 per quintal and RSS 3 at $280.05. In Kerala, RSS 4 remained at ₹28,400 per quintal.
Cocoa prices rose 2.11 percent on Monday to $5,904 a tonne. Ghana's cocoa board expects production to fall 16 percent because of adverse weather conditions. Production in Ivory Coast, another major cocoa producer, is also expected to decline by more than 10 percent.
Production across Asia and Latin America is estimated to fall by another one lakh tonnes.
Arabica coffee gained 0.22 percent to $3.15 a pound. Concerns over the impact of El Niño on next year's production are supporting prices.
The US Dollar Index rose on Monday to close at 99.81. It slipped to 99.76 this morning.
The euro rose to $1.1549 and the pound to $1.3513. The Japanese yen weakened to 159 per dollar, while the Chinese yuan remained around 6.75 per dollar.
The yield on US 10-year Treasury bonds rose to 4.705 percent this morning.
The Indian rupee gained at the start of Monday's session but ended lower. The dollar gained 10 paise to close at ₹95.30.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward market, the dollar was quoted at ₹95.40 this morning. The Chinese yuan rose to ₹14.12 and the euro to ₹110.05.
Crude oil prices surged around 5 percent on Monday as prospects of an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz weakened.
Brent crude closed at $87.71 a barrel and edged up to $87.83 this morning. WTI crude rose to $82.20.
Cryptocurrencies declined again.
Bitcoin fell below $63,950 this morning, while Ether slipped below $1,875 and Solana below $76.
Sensex: 78,542.44 (+0.06%)
Nifty 50: 24,583.80 (+0.05%)
Bank Nifty: 57,686.95 (-0.10%)
Nifty Midcap 100: 63,855.70 (+0.62%)
Nifty Smallcap 100: 19,813.95 (-0.27%)
Dow Jones: 53,975.98 (-0.11%)
S&P 500: 7,753.11 (-0.06%)
Nasdaq: 26,605.36 (-0.32%)
Dollar: ₹95.30 (+₹0.10)
Gold (ounce): $4,390.10 (+$46.80)
Gold (sovereign): ₹1,11,440 (-₹280)
Brent crude: $87.72 (+$4.65)