Fresh missile and drone strikes involving US and Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz rattled global markets on Thursday, reviving fears over a wider conflict in West Asia. However, concerns eased somewhat after US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire was still holding, while Iranian state television claimed the situation had returned to normal.
Markets are now waiting for Iran’s response to US conditions tied to a possible agreement. Crude oil prices eased slightly, gold rebounded, and US futures turned positive, though most Asian markets traded lower.
In Gift City derivatives trade, Gift Nifty closed at 24,285 on Thursday night and moved between 24,281 and 24,327 on Friday morning, indicating a weak start for Indian equities.
Wall Street ended lower on Thursday as investors worried about the lack of progress in Iran-US negotiations and renewed tensions around Hormuz, while rising crude prices also weighed on sentiment.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had touched record highs during intraday trade before slipping into the red.
The Dow Jones fell 313.62 points, or 0.63 percent, to close at 49,596.97. The S&P 500 lost 28.01 points, or 0.38 percent, ending at 7,337.11, while the Nasdaq declined 32.75 points, or 0.13 percent, to 25,806.20.
US index futures were trading marginally higher on Friday morning. Dow futures gained 44 points, S&P 500 futures rose 14 points and Nasdaq futures advanced 89 points.
Among Indian ADRs listed in New York, HDFC Bank slipped 0.41 percent in after-hours trade to $25.57 after gaining earlier. ICICI Bank ADR edged up 0.15 percent to $26.78. Infosys ADR ended flat at $12.57 after declining 0.55 percent earlier, while Wipro recovered in after-hours trade to close 1.52 percent higher at $2.01.
European markets fell more than 1 percent on Thursday amid concerns over the lack of progress in West Asian peace efforts and after Norway raised interest rates.
Asian markets remained under pressure on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei pared losses after falling nearly 1 percent earlier. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.60 percent, while Australia’s market fell 1.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.90 percent and Shanghai slipped 0.35 percent.
Uncertainty surrounding West Asian peace talks kept Indian equities volatile on Thursday. Benchmark indices ended with marginal losses, though broader markets outperformed strongly.
The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose more than 1 percent to a record closing high. The Sensex ended 560 points below the day’s peak, while the Nifty surrendered 155 points from intraday highs.
Auto, realty, defence and capital market stocks gained, while FMCG, IT, PSU banks and consumer durable shares weakened.
Foreign institutional investors remained sellers, offloading shares worth ₹340.89 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹441.07 crore.
The Sensex fell 114 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at 77,844.52. The Nifty 50 declined 4.35 points, or 0.02 percent, to 24,326.65. Bank Nifty rose 0.12 percent to 56,047.40.
The Midcap 100 index jumped 1.10 percent to 62,003.15, while the Smallcap 100 index gained 0.87 percent to 18,695.65.
Market breadth remained positive. On the BSE, 2,704 stocks advanced against 1,572 declines. On the NSE, 2,271 shares rose while 992 fell.
Dabur India said it would raise product prices by around 4 percent, citing a more than 10 percent rise in raw material costs due to the conflict.
Britannia Industries reported a 6.5 percent rise in fourth-quarter revenue, while net profit surged 21.2 percent. Operating profit grew 5.9 percent.
Pharma major Lupin posted a 31.9 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue, while net profit jumped 89 percent to ₹1,460 crore. Profit margin improved to 33.3 percent from 23.3 percent.
BSE Ltd reported a 25.7 percent rise in revenue, 43.9 percent growth in operating profit and a 33 percent jump in net profit. Profit margin rose sharply to 67.9 percent.
South Indian Bank reported a 5.4 percent rise in net interest income and a 19.1 percent increase in net profit for the fourth quarter. Net non-performing assets declined to 0.29 percent. The stock, which had rallied sharply in recent weeks, fell 1.62 percent on Thursday.
Gold prices continued to swing sharply depending on developments in West Asia. Prices rise when hopes of peace fade and retreat when tensions ease.
Gold climbed as high as $4,765.60 an ounce on Thursday before losing most of the gains and closing at $4,687.60. On Friday morning, it rebounded to around $4,722.
Major investment banks continue to argue that gold could gradually move towards $6,000 an ounce if geopolitical tensions persist.
In Kerala, 22-carat gold prices rose by ₹640 per sovereign on Thursday to ₹1,12,200.
Silver climbed to $80.31 an ounce on Friday morning after closing at $78.53 on Thursday. Platinum traded at $2,046, palladium at $1,481 and rhodium at $9,500.
Industrial metals traded mostly lower, except tin and zinc.
Copper slipped 0.19 percent to $13,325.65 a tonne, while aluminium fell 0.88 percent to $3,496.95. Tin surged 3.96 percent to $54,526 a tonne.
Coffee prices dropped 4.02 percent to 272.45 cents per pound, while palm oil gained 0.31 percent to 4,541 Malaysian ringgit a tonne.
Global cocoa prices jumped 5.42 percent to $4,359 a tonne, the highest level since January. Prices have surged 33 percent over the past month, though they remain well below last year’s record highs.
Markets are worried that drought during the harvest season in Ivory Coast and Ghana could affect both supply and quality. Rising fertiliser costs and fears linked to the El Niño weather pattern are also adding to supply concerns.
Agencies have begun revising stock surplus estimates for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. Cocoa had touched a record $12,906 a tonne in December 2024.
The US dollar index edged up to 98.07 on Thursday and strengthened further to 98.25 on Friday morning.
The euro weakened to $1.1728, while the pound slipped to $1.3552. The Japanese yen weakened to 156.88 per dollar.
The Chinese yuan strengthened to 6.80 against the dollar.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose sharply to 4.39 percent.
The rupee strengthened further on Thursday as crude oil prices eased. The dollar closed 36 paise lower at ₹94.25.
In the non-deliverable forward market, the dollar traded at ₹94.44 on Friday morning. The euro weakened to ₹110.57, while the Chinese yuan slipped to ₹13.86.
Fresh attacks and counter-attacks involving ships and ports near Hormuz pushed crude oil prices higher again.
Brent crude closed at $100.06 a barrel on Thursday. On Friday morning, Brent rose as much as 2.4 percent to $102.44 before easing back to $101.51.
WTI crude traded at $96.66, while UAE Murban crude also stood at $96.66. India’s crude basket price had risen to $112.47 a barrel on Tuesday.
Cryptocurrencies remained under pressure amid rising geopolitical fears.
Bitcoin slipped below $79,800 on Friday morning. Ether traded below $2,290, while Solana fell below $88.30.
Sensex: 77,844.52 (-0.15%)
Nifty 50: 24,326.65 (-0.02%)
Bank Nifty: 56,047.40 (+0.12%)
Midcap 100: 62,003.15 (+1.10%)
Smallcap 100: 18,695.65 (+0.87%)
Dow Jones: 49,596.97 (-0.63%)
S&P 500: 7,337.11 (-0.38%)
Nasdaq: 25,806.20 (-0.13%)
Dollar: ₹94.25 (-₹0.36)
Gold (ounce): $4,687.60 (-$4.40)
Gold (sovereign): ₹1,12,200 (+₹640)
Brent crude: $100.06 (-$1.21)
