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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 5, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Indices may open higher tracking gains in US, Asian stocks

 

MUMBAI--0835 IST--Domestic benchmark indices are expected to open higher, tracking gains on Wall Street as well as their Asian peers, which rose after jitters around hostilities in West Asia eased after a New York Times report said that Iran had signalled openness to talks with the US Central Intelligence Agency to end the war.  

 

Additionally, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Wednesday said the Donald Trump administration will provide support to oil tankers transiting the Persian Gulf, adding that it will announce more measures in the coming days, CNBC reported. US President Trump Tuesday had also promised naval escorts for oil traffic in the Persian Gulf if necessary. 

 

Overnight, key Wall Street indices closed higher buoyed by gains in technology and semiconductor stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.5% higher Tuesday, ending a three-day losing run since the US-Iran hostilities began. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed around 1% higher each. Most Asian indices rose in early trade Thursday, staging a sharp rebound from the fall seen in the previous few sessions, as sentiment improved following overnight gains on Wall Street and easing concerns over surging oil prices. South Korea's KOSPI jumped over 12% in early trade, recovering most of the 19% it shed over the past three sessions.  

 

However, oil prices continued to rise amid lack of clarity on the possible duration of the armed conflict in West Asia. At 0803 IST, the May crude oil futures contract was at $83.54 per barrel, up nearly 3% from Wednesday's close. The contracts have risen over 7% since Monday. 

 

The Gift Nifty contracts indicate Nifty 50 will open slightly higher on Thursday. At 0805 IST, the March contract of the Nifty 50 on the NSE International Exchange traded at 24689.50 points, up over 200 points from Wednesday's closing price. If the Nifty 50 sustains above the 24500 support level, it could witness a pullback towards 24800 level in the near term, Sundar Khewat, technical and derivatives analyst at Ashika Group, said. However, if the 50-stock index fails to hold the 24500 support and slips below this level, the index may witness renewed selling pressure, which could drag it down to the 24000 points level, he added. (Arya S. Biju)

 

 

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Equity Alert: Asian markets recover as oil prices, US-Iran tensions moderate

 

MUMBAI--0830 IST--Asian indices recovered after falling significantly in the previous few sessions, with the South Korea's KOSPI leading the gains after its worst-ever performance on Wednesday. US officals' comments to support trade through the Strait of Hormuz and better-than-expected jobs data in the US supported the recovery of Asian indices. 

 

South Korean KOSPI jumped 12?ter it recorded its worst single-day decline Wednesday, Reuters reported. The index was supported by heavyweights such as SK Hynix and Samsung, which rose over 14-15%. On Wednesday, the index had fallen 12%.

 

The recovery in the KOSPI was primarily due to a reversal of leveraged selling and had nothing to do with fundamentals, Daniel Yoo, a global market strategist at Yuanta Securities, told CNBC. No major change in oil prices amid the ongoing hostilities between the US and Iran is being seen as a positive. Assurance from the US that it will give Navy support to facilitate trade through the Strait of Hormuz also helped improve sentiment across Asian markets.

 

China set its gross domestic product growth target for 2026 at 4.5-5% as Beijing navigates through deflationary pressures and trade tensions with the US. This is the lowest on-record target since the 1990s, according to CNBC. China's budget deficit target was left unchanged from last year at around 4% of the GDP, CNBC reported. The National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, will hold its annual meet this week.

 

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0830 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4670.88	1.48
Hang Seng Index	25719.70	1.86
Nikkei 225 Day	55713.27	2.71
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3726.07	2.54
KOSPI	5625.48	10.44
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4852.42	0.82
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8917	0.18

 

(Shruti)

 

 

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Equity Alert: US indices recover Wed as fears of trade disruption moderate 

 

MUMBAI--0743 IST--US indices rose Wednesday after falling sharply a day before on concerns of higher energy cost due to US-Iran hostilities. All three major indices rose as volatility in oil prices subsided after the US assured Navy support for ships to go through the Strait of Hormuz, even as investors remain cautious about the developments in West Asia.

 

Further, Iran Ministry of Intelligence signalled it was willing to talk to the US Central Intelligence Agency in order to end the war, Reuters reported quoting the New York Times. The offer was made through an unnamed country's spy agency. However, Iranian intelligence ministry rejected the report. 

 

Wednesday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the US would support the flow of oil through the Persian Gulf. His comments followed those of the US President Donald Trump who said on Tueday that the US would insure and escort oil tankers that need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement came as oil prices soared leading to fears of high inflation in the US. Wednesday, Brent crude oil May futures settled flat at $81.40 per barrel. At 0736 IST, oil futures were up 2% at $83.19 per barrel.

 

The indices also rose after the ADP reported that the US private sector added 63,000 jobs in February, exceeding the estimate of 50,000 by economists. "The concerns of a softening labor market at least maybe turning into a deteriorating labor market (are) being kind of challenged right now," Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise told CNBC.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Wednesday:  

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6869.5	0.78
NASDAQ Composite	22807.48	1.29
Dow Jones Industrial Average	48739.41	0.49

 

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 92.15

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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