More Stories

Informist, Friday, Mar. 20, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

---

Equity Alert: Most Asian markets down as US-Iran war raises inflation risk

 

MUMBAI--0803 IST--Most stock indices in Asia fell as US-Iran hostilities continued in West Asia, raising risks of higher inflation. Central banks across the globe pointed to the risk of inflation due to higher crude oil prices, with some even ready to hike interest rates if necessary.

 

Iran attacked the world's largest gas plant in Qatar, which has likely wiped out 17% of the country's liquefied natural gas export capacity, Qatar's state minister for energy affairs told Reuters. Indices in Japan were the worst hit, with the Nikkei 225 Day down more than 3%. The index is down more 9% since the US-Iran war started. 

 

Brent crude oil futures came off highs after US President Donald Trump denied plans of using ground troops against Iran, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war was likely to end soon. However, prices remain above $100 per barrel, which is expected to push inflation higher. At 0757 IST, the May contracts of Brent crude oil was trading at $105.58 per barrel, down nearly 3%. 

 

Following were the levels of major Asian indices at 0800 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4601.00	0.39
Hang Seng Index	25311.91	(-)0.74
Nikkei 225 Day	53372.53	(-)3.38
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3609.40	(-)2.91
KOSPI	5791.06	0.48
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4946.44	(-)0.43
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8468.20	(-)0.35

 

(Anshul Choudhary)

---

Equity Alert: US indices end down Thu amid inflation risk due to US-Iran war

 

MUMBAI--0740 IST--Stock indices in the US ended slightly lower Thursday amid fears of higher inflation due to a surge in crude oil prices. Hostilities between the US and Iran continue, with reports of blasts in Tehran and Jerusalem, raising risks of a prolonged war.

 

Central banks across the world pointed to risk of higher inflation due to the hostilities in West Asia, which have led to soaring oil and gas prices. On Wednesday, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also warned about uncertainity due to the war.

 

Due to the risk of higher inflation, most market participants have given up hopes of rate cuts in the US, at least for this year. The CME FedWatch tool shows nearly a 50% probability of no rate cuts this year. Some have even started expecting a rate hike, with a 20% probability of a 25 basis point increase in interest rates this year.

 

While the S&P 500 fell as much as 0.7% intraday due to inflation risks, it pared some of the losses after US President Donald Trump said he was not using ground troops in West Asia. Meanwhile, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war with Iran was likely to end "faster than people think". The S&P 500 closed 0.3% lower. 

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Thursday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6606.49	(-)0.27
NASDAQ Composite	22090.691	(-)0.28
Dow Jones Industrial Average	46021.43	(-)0.44

 

(Anshul Choudhary)

 

US$1 = INR 92.63

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

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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.

 

NSE: National Stock Exchange
NYSE: New York Stock Exchange
NYMEX: New York Mercantile Exchange
SEBI: Securities and Exchange Board of India
RBI: Reserve Bank of India

Internet links:
Securities and Exchange Board of India - http://www.sebi.gov.in
Bombay Stock Exchange - http://www.bseindia.com
National Stock Exchange of India - http://www.nseindia.com
Directory of Indian government websites - http://goidirectory.nic.in
Indian Ministry of Finance - http://www.finmin.nic.in
Reserve Bank of India - http://rbi.org.in
Controller General of Accounts, Government of India - http://www.cga.nic.in
Government's Press Information Bureau - http://www.pib.nic.in

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.