Indian shares likely to open flat on rising Mideast tensions
Indian shares are set to open little changed on Wednesday, as renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran cloud hopes for a durable ceasefire and keep global markets on edge.
GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 23,257 as of 7:53 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 would open near Tuesday's close of 23,242.1.
The Nifty and the Sensex each gained about 0.5% in the previous session, supported by the Reserve Bank of India's forex swap facility for banks' overseas foreign-currency borrowing and a pause in Middle East hostilities.
Middle East tensions flared again after the United States launched strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump said that Tehran had downed a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.
Broader Asian stock markets fell 1.3%, with investors awaiting U.S. inflation data due later in the day for clues on the future path of interest rates.[MKTS/GLOB]
Oil prices edged higher, with Brent crude rising 0.7% after sliding to a seven-week low on Tuesday.
Higher crude prices are a key risk for the world's third-largest oil importer as they weigh on growth, squeeze corporate margins and add to inflation pressures.[O/R]
Those concerns have already contributed to record foreign portfolio investor outflows from Indian equities in 2026, with net sales reaching $30.04 billion as of Wednesday's close.
The Nifty and the Sensex have fallen 7.7% and 9.1%, respectively, since the start of the Iran war.
Among sectors, information technology stocks are likely to be in focus amid easing H-1B-related concerns and ex-dividend adjustments in heavyweights such as Infosys.
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