Equity Alert
Indices seen in a range as US-Iran war peace talks uncertain
This story was originally published at 09:06 IST on 21 April 2026
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Tuesday, Apr. 21, 2026 Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000
Equity Alert: Indices seen in a range as US-Iran war peace talks uncertain
MUMBAI--0850 IST--Benchmark indices are expected to move in a range tracking the latest global developments. Diplomatic talks to end the US-Iran war remain uncertain as Iran has said it will not negotiate under the "shadow of threats". Analysts expect the session to witness intermittent volatility with uncertainty over the US-Iran ceasefire remaining a key overhang. However, Brent Crude oil prices staying around $95 per barrel is giving slight optimism to the domestic equity market. At 0842 IST, the June futures contract of Brent Crude was 0.5% lower at $94.96 per barrel.
US President Donald Trump said he is in no rush to end the conflict while also saying a deal with Iran could happen "relatively quickly" and expressing optimism that fresh talks with Tehran will soon take place in Pakistan, according to a report by The Guardian. "Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would not accept negotiations with the US while under threat," according to The Guardian. In a post on X, Bagher also said that Iran had "prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield."
The April futures contract of Gift Nifty suggests the indices will move in range, as the contract is just 30 points away from the previous close of the Nifty 50 index. On Monday, the 50-stock index closed over 11 points higher at 24364.85. "We can expect sell-on-rise and buy-on-dips during the session," Sundar Kewat, technical and derivatives analyst at Ashika Group, said. At 0854 IST, the April contract of Gift Nifty was 0.2% lower at 24387.
HCL Technologies and Nestle India will announce their Jan-Mar earnings Tuesday. HCL Tech is likely to report a 6% sequential decline in consolidated net profit, excluding exceptional items, to INR 47.23 billion. On a year-on-year basis, the company's bottom line is expected to rise nearly 10%. The company's consolidated revenue for the quarter is expected to rise 1.6% sequentially and almost 14% on year to INR 344.24 billion. (Arundathi A R)
Equity Alert: Asian mkts mixed amid US-Iran tensions; Kospi hits record high
MUMBAI--0830 IST--Asian indices were mixed in early trade Tuesday even as market participants assessed the impact of renewed tensions between the US and Iran as the two warring countries approach the expiry of their ceasefire. South Korea's Kospi rose 2% and led the gains among its peers, hitting a record high, followed by Japan's Nikkei 225 which rose over 1%. China's CSI 300 deviated from most peers and was 0.6% lower.
On Monday, Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused US President Donald Trump of putting pressure on Tehran to surrender. He said Iran would not negotiate under threats. This was after Trump on Monday threatened "lots of bombs (will) start going off" if Tehran does not agree to a deal before the expiry of the ceasefire. Trump's comments came even as a US delegation was in the works to return to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks, CNBC reported.
The unprecedented gains in Kospi were led by the rise in stocks of chipmaking giants. Shares of index heavyweight SK Hynix rose over 4%, hitting an intraday high ahead of its quarterly earnings on Thursday. Shares of its peer Samsung Electronics saw more modest gains. They were up nearly 2%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng showed marginal gains early in the session. Tuesday, Victory Giant, a circuit-board supplier to Nvidia, debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its shares rose over 60% from its initial offer price. The company raised $2.6 billion from its initial public offering, which was the largest in the city so far in 2026, South China Morning Post reported.
Following were the levels of major indices in Asia at 0830 IST:
| Indices | Levels | Change in % |
| CSI 300 Index | 4745.9592 | (-)0.24 |
| Hang Seng Index | 26364.05 | 0.01 |
| Nikkei 225 Day | 59596.1 | 1.31 |
| TOPIX FIRST SECTION | 3788.27 | 0.3 |
| KOSPI | 6350.69 | 2.12 |
| FTSE Singapore Strait Times | 5015 | 0.22 |
| S P/ ASX 200 INDEX | 8934.8 | (-)0.21 |
(Shruti Nair)
Equity Alert: US indices end lower, Nasdaq snaps 13-day winning streak
MUMBAI--0750 IST--US indices ended their three-week winning streak and closed lower Monday as renewed tensions between the US and Iran weighed on investor sentiment. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended nearly flat, its peer, the Nasdaq Composite, ended 0.3% lower, after gaining for the past 13 consecutive sessions. Crude oil prices fell marginally Tuesday but still hovered around the $95-per-barrel mark at 0740 IST after resuming their climb this week on the news of the re-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Shares of technology majors Meta and Netflix ended 2.6% lower on Monday, with the former ending its nine-day winning streak. Market participants await the quarterly results of Lockheed Martin and IBM scheduled later this week to assess the impact of the US-Iran war on corporate earnings. Tesla's earnings, set to come out Wednesday, will be the first among the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks.
As the expiry of the US-Iran ceasefire approaches, investors remain wary of the mixed messages coming from both the warring parties. Monday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the country is considering peace talks with the US in Pakistan. Later, however, Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in a social media post accused US President Donald Trump of using the US naval blockade to put pressure on Iran, saying that Iran rejected negotiations under threat. Tensions escalated after the US navy seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Strait of Oman over the weekend. Subsequently, Iran refused to participate in the second round of negotiations with the US in Pakistan and closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Following are the closing levels of US indices on Monday:
| US Indices | Levels | Change in % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 49442.56 | (-)0.01 |
| NASDAQ Composite | 24404.393 | (-)0.26 |
| S&P 500 | 7109.14 | (-)0.24 |
(Shruti Nair)
US$1 = INR 93.35
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Edited by Ashish Shirke
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.
To read more please subscribe
Share this Story:
