Prospects for peace in the West Asian war are receding once again. The United States carried out air strikes along the southern coast of Iran for the 12th consecutive day. Iran also launched attacks in Bahrain and Jordan.
Disruptions to oil tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea pushed crude oil prices above $96 a barrel.
US markets ended marginally lower on Wednesday, while futures are trading slightly higher. Asian markets are advancing today. The Indian market is expected to open amid concerns over the sharp rise in crude oil prices.
In derivatives trading at GIFT City, GIFT Nifty closed at 23,890.50 on Wednesday night. It rose to 23,920 this morning before falling to 23,879. This indicates that the Indian market could open with significant losses.
The India Meteorological Department said the deficit in southwest monsoon rainfall narrowed to 18.9% as of July 22.
According to the department’s definition, rainfall that is up to 19% above or below the long-period average is classified as normal.
Kerala’s rainfall deficit, however, widened to 35%. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have recorded deficits of more than 20%.
Around 54% of India’s geographical area has received rainfall that is more than 20% below normal.
Indications that the chances of talks between the US and Iran were diminishing pushed US markets marginally lower on Wednesday.
SpaceX shares associated with Elon Musk fell 6.7% to $115.26. Tesla declined 1.30% ahead of the announcement of its results. The stock fell another 4% after the results, as the company reportedly failed to meet its stated targets apart from revenue.
Nvidia shares advanced again, taking the company’s market capitalisation to $5.13 trillion.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said it would increase its capital expenditure on artificial intelligence to $205 billion. The stock fell 1.24% during regular trading and lost another 2.83% in after-hours trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.06 points, or 0.01%, to close at 52,218.58 on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 declined 10.24 points, or 0.14%, to 7,498.96. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 146.30 points, or 0.57%, to close at 25,690.90.
US futures are trading marginally higher today.
Dow futures are up 45 points, or 0.09%. S&P 500 futures have gained six points, or 0.07%, while Nasdaq futures are up 63 points, or 0.22%.
In the American Depositary Receipt market in New York, HDFC Bank fell 2.32% during regular trading on Wednesday and declined another 0.17% in after-hours trade to close at $23.14.
ICICI Bank declined 2% during the regular session and lost another 1.53% in after-hours trading to close at $29.
Infosys fell 2.06% during regular trading and slipped another 0.09% in after-hours trade to $10.92.
Wipro declined 0.55% during the regular session before gaining 0.52% in after-hours trade to close at $1.8195.
European markets recorded strong gains again on Wednesday. Markets in the United Kingdom welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet.
EasyJet shares fell 12% after the European Union moved to introduce stricter ownership conditions for airlines.
Airbus shares jumped 7% after the company announced a €5 billion share buyback.
Asian markets are trading higher today.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 4%, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.2%. Australia’s benchmark index advanced 1.10%, and Hong Kong rose 0.40%. Shanghai declined 0.10%.
The surge in crude oil prices, weakness in the rupee and tariff measures announced by the United States triggered a broad sell-off in the Indian market on Wednesday.
The Nifty closed below 24,000, while the Sensex ended below 77,000. The mid-cap and small-cap indices, which had gained in recent sessions, declined by more than 1%.
Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Infosys were among the major stocks that fell.
Foreign investors returned to net selling, offloading shares worth ₹819.20 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors were also net sellers, with net sales of ₹418.26 crore.
The Sensex fell 715.06 points, or 0.92%, to close at 76,755.05. The Nifty declined 191.45 points, or 0.79%, to 23,996.25.
The Bank Nifty dropped 708.55 points, or 1.23%, to close at 57,126.80.
The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 687 points, or 1.09%, to 62,300.60. The Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 298.80 points, or 1.54%, to 19,129.25.
Around two stocks declined for every stock that advanced. On the BSE, 1,376 stocks rose and 2,863 fell. On the NSE, 1,049 stocks advanced while 2,217 declined.
The US decision to raise tariffs on generic medicines pulled pharmaceutical stocks lower, although it did not trigger a sharp collapse. Concerns were partly eased by the reported implementation timeline extending until 2028, which could provide time for negotiations, and by the fact that Donald Trump’s presidential term is scheduled to end in January 2029.
Questions over asset quality caused Bandhan Bank shares to plunge 17%.
Data Patterns rose 12% after securing a ₹1,300 crore contract from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Nestlé gained 3.31% following strong first-quarter growth.
Bajaj Auto shares jumped 5.92% as the company moved onto a stronger growth trajectory.
State-owned oil companies reported heavy losses in the first quarter because they were unable to pass the increase in crude oil prices on to consumers.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited reported a loss of ₹12,265 crore, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited posted a loss of ₹3,962 crore.
IndusInd Bank’s net profit rose 46.5% in the June quarter following a decline in provisions for bad loans. Net interest income increased 7.2%.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories reported a 69% decline in net profit. Sales of the cancer drug lenalidomide were below expectations. The company also had to set aside ₹240 crore in relation to quality concerns involving the weight-loss drug semaglutide.
Gold prices advanced again on Wednesday.
Gold gained $52.70, or 1.29%, to close at $4,131.40 an ounce. It touched an intraday high of $4,164. The price was trading close to $4,130 this morning.
Gold is currently near its 200-day moving average and could fall to lower levels before September before beginning another upward move, according to Paul Wong, market strategist and managing partner at Sprott Inc.
In Kerala, the price of 22-carat gold rose by ₹1,680 on Wednesday to ₹1,07,440 per sovereign.
Silver touched $61 an ounce before declining to close at $59.84. It was trading at $59.90 this morning.
Some brokerages believe the correction in silver prices is over and that the metal could move towards $70.
Platinum was trading at $1,639, palladium at $1,278 and rhodium at $7,825.
International rubber prices continued to decline, while prices remained elevated in Kerala.
In Bangkok, RSS-1 was quoted at $289.90 per quintal and RSS-3 at $286.45 per quintal. In Kerala, RSS-4 remained at ₹28,200 per quintal.
The return of favourable weather in Southeast Asia has enabled production to resume at full capacity, increasing supply. Demand from China has also weakened.
Industrial metals, including aluminium, recorded further gains.
Copper rose 0.27% to $13,893.50 a tonne. Inventories at the London and Shanghai metal exchanges are at record lows. Market speculation suggests that the shortage could continue until the middle of 2027.
Aluminium gained 0.95% to close at $3,189.95. Zinc and lead also rose, while tin and nickel declined.
Cocoa prices fell 4.53% on Wednesday to $5,353 a tonne.
The International Cocoa Organization expects production in Indonesia to increase despite the El Niño weather phenomenon. Production in West Africa is expected to decline. Markets are now closely watching the results of chocolate companies.
Arabica coffee declined 1.26% to $3.18 a pound. Coffee inventories remain at their lowest level since March 2024.
The US Dollar Index fell to close at 101.13 on Wednesday. It declined further to 101.05 this morning.
The euro fell to $1.1417 and the pound to $1.3382. The Japanese yen weakened to around 163 to the dollar. The Chinese yuan remained at 6.77 to the dollar.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.665% this morning.
The Indian rupee declined on Wednesday. The dollar rose by 33 paise to close at ₹96.57. The increase in crude oil prices was the main reason for the rupee’s weakness.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward market, the dollar was quoted at ₹96.56 this morning. The Chinese yuan stood at ₹14.26 and the euro at ₹110.27.
Crude oil prices continued to rise as the transportation of oil faced disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Black Sea near Ukraine.
Houthi threats in the Red Sea have affected Saudi Arabian oil exports.
Brent crude rose 3% on Wednesday to close at $94.07 a barrel. It gained another 2.2% this morning to reach $96.12.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $88.30 a barrel.
Cryptocurrencies traded in different directions.
Bitcoin fell below $65,900 this morning. Ether remained above $1,930, while Solana traded above $78.
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
