Indian shares set to open lower after Trump ramps up Iran threat
India's equity benchmarks are poised to open lower on Thursday, tracking weakness across broader Asian peers, after U.S. President Donald Trump stopped short of outlining a roadmap to end the Iran war.
GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 22,359, as of 7:41 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open below Wednesday's close of 22,679.40 points.
Other Asian markets dropped 1.2% after Trump said Washington's "core strategic objectives" in the Iran war were nearing completion. However, he did not provide a clear outlook on when the conflict would end.
Trump's comments that the U.S. will strike Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks also intensified near-term geopolitical anxiety and drove crude oil prices higher.
Brent crude climbed 4% to about $105 per barrel. [O/R]
Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) offloaded shares worth 83.31 billion rupees ($893.83 million) on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought stocks worth 71.72 billion rupees, according to NSE's provisional data.
In the previous session, the Nifty 50 and Sensex indexes gained about 1.6% each, in line with a global rally sparked by expectations of a de-escalation in the Iran war.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Karnataka Bank says its gross advances rose 6.9% year-on-year and provisional deposits were up 3.8%, as of March-end
** Pace Digitek secures EPC order from NTPC worth 4.95 billion rupees for the implementation of a 200 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Bihar
** Hero MotoCorp posts 24% dispatch growth in the March quarter, while total two-wheeler sales rose 8.8% in March
** NMDC says total iron ore production surged 51% to 5.35 MT in the March quarter while sales rose 40%
($1 = 93.2060 Indian rupees)
