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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Indices may open higher after Trump defers attacks on Iran

 

MUMBAI--0815 IST--Benchmark equity indices are expected to open higher, tracking gains in their Asian peers after US President Donald Trump, after market hours Monday, said military strikes on Iran's power plants and energy infrastructure had been put off for five days following discussions with Iranian officials. However, Iran denied any talks with the US, saying there has been no dialogue between them. 

 

Following Trump's comments, the May futures contract of Brent Crude plunged over 14% to an intraday low of $96 a barrel Monday, but came slightly off the low and closed the session at $99.94 per barrel. In early trade Tuesday, crude prices rose more than $4 a barrel as markets assessed the supply outlook after Iran denied holding talks with US, Reuters reported. At 0806 IST, the May Futures contract of Brent Crude oil traded at $103.68 per barrel. 

 

Overnight, US stocks rallied after Trump's comments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed 1.4% higher and the technology heavy-Nasdaq Composite settled 1.2% higher Monday. Before Trump's comments, US stock futures pointed to more losses for equity markets. However, after his comments, futures tied to Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly surged more than 1,000 points. Most major equity markets in Asia were also up in early trade, with Japan's Topix First Section leading the gains. In contract, China's CSI 300 index and Singapore's FTSE Singapore Strait Times traded slightly lower at 0744 IST.  

 

Late Monday, Trump told reporters that both Iran and the US want to "make a deal" and that the parties would likely meet by phone on Monday, according to a CNBC report. Meanwhile, Israel and Iran continued to launch strikes overnight, according to media reports. Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut's southern neighbourhood in Lebanon, while Iran fired more missiles at Israel overnight. 

 

"We acknowledge that this is not a done deal yet, with the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz the critical milestone in the process. However, the probability of peace is significantly elevated and we think markets will aggressively price that in," Brokerage Emakay Global said in a strategy report Tuesday. "The Nifty (50) fell 5% in the last three trading sessions, primarily owing to sustained FPI (foreign portfolio investor) selling. We expect this trend to reverse, and India could emerge as one of the better investment opportunities in the region," Emakay said. The optimism is also expected to spill over to other asset classes, with the domestic currency expected to bounce back to pre-war levels while the 10-year bond yield should drop to around 6.65% from 6.83% currently, the brokerage said.

 

Futures contracts of the Gift Nifty indicate a gap-up open for the Nifty 50 on Tuesday. At 0807 IST, the March contract of the Gift Nifty traded at 22917.50 points, over 400 points higher than the Nifty 50's previous close. "Nifty (50) index is approaching towards crucial support zone placed at 22000-21750 spot levels; the price supports of 21750 also coincide with its 4 years exponential moving average," Vipin Kumaar, senior technical and derivatives analyst at Globe Capital Market, said. On short-term charts, the Nifty 50 index is trading in the oversold territory and, hence, the possibility of some bounceback cannot be ruled out at this juncture, which might lead it towards 22800-23000 spot levels, he said. (Arya S. Biju)

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Equity Alert: US indices rally as Trump postpones strike on Iran power plants

 

MUMBAI--0725 IST--Major stock indices in the US rallied on Monday after comments by US President Trump on postponing strikes on Iranian power plants, citing constructive talks with the country, sent crude oil prices down. On Monday, the May futures of Brent crude closed at $99.94 per barrel, nearly 11% lower than the previous close.

 

"The volatility is likely to continue and it's all about the price of oil. Nothing else really matters to people in the short term. So when oil prices are down, stocks go up and vice versa," Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments, told Reuters. "What's up the most today is not a surprise. It's things ‌with economic sensitivity."

 

All three major indices were up over 1% on Monday, registering their highest single-digit percentage gains in a day since Feb. 6, according to Reuters. All 11 major industry sectors in the S&P 500 rose, Reuters reported. The consumer discretionary sector ended 2.5% higher and other cyclical sectors saw notable gains too. Defensive sectors fared poorly in comparison, with healthcare ending nearly flat and consumer staples ending nearly 0.4% higher. Stocks of airline companies also rallied on the back of the dip in oil prices, with shares of Alaska Air and United Airlines both ending over 4% higher.

 

Further, investors trimmed their expectations of a hike in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve to around 13% for December from above 23% in the previous session, according to the CME Group's FedWatch.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Monday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6581	1.15
NASDAQ Composite	21946.76	1.38
Dow Jones Industrial Average	46208.47	1.38

 

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 93.98

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.

 

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