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Informist, Friday, May 8, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Indices open lower as US-Iran war escalates, crude prices rise

 

MUMBAI--0948 IST--Benchmark indices opened lower tracking the fresh escalation of the US-Iran war where fires were exchanged between the two nations in the Strait of Hormuz. The Brent Crude oil rose around 3% to a high of $102.92 per barrel. Banking stocks were the major laggards in the indices. 

 

At 0942 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 24173.90 points, down 152.75 points or 0.6%, and the BSE Sensex was at 77360.68 points, down 483.84 points or 0.6%. 

 

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone were the top gainers among the Nifty 50 constituents. They were up around 2?ch. Tata Consumer Products, Asian Paints, Adani Enterprises, and Tech Mahindra were up nearly 1?ch. On other hand, Coal India and Eternal were the underperformers in the 50-stock-index. They fell around 2?ch. 

 

Heavyweight banking stock HDFC Bank fell over 1%. Its peers Axis Bank, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Life Insurance Co., and Jio Financial Services, fell around 1?ch. Eternal, UltraTech Cement, Hindalco Industries, and Reliance Industries were down around 1?ch.     

 

Shares of Pidilite rose over 3% and was the top gainer in the Nifty 200. The company's consolidated net profit grew over 37% on year to INR 5.79 billion for the March quarter. This was above the Street's estimate of INR 5.26 billion. In contrast, Britannia Industries was the major laggard in the index, down nearly 5%. The stock fell despite the company posting a 21% on-year growth in its consolidated net profit to INR 6.78 billion.  

 

In the Nifty 500, Sonata Software rose over 7% to be the top gainer, while Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands fell nearly 5% to be the worst hit stock.  (Adhithya Aji)

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Equity Alert: Nuvama bullish on Arvind Ltd post Dalco-GFT acquisition 

 

MUMBAI—0905 IST--Arvind Ltd's acquisition of a 61% stake in Dalco-GFT, a US-based manufacturer of specialised needle-punched non-woven fabrics, is expected to provide a core business extension and enable the company to expand its presence in the US, Nuvama Institutional Equities said. Factoring in the acquisition, the brokerage has raised the target price on the stock 29% to INR 534 and maintained a 'buy' recommendation.

 

 

The company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Arvind Advanced Materials Ltd., acquired 61% controlling stake in Dalco-GFT at an enterprise value of $136 million. The acquisition gives Arvind Advanced Materials its first overseas manufacturing footprint and access to $2.5 billion US total addressable market, Nuvama said. "Needle-punched non-woven is an adjacency to AAML's existing India filtration business, supporting a low-touch integration," the brokerage added.

 

Dalco brings 85% sole-source automotive positions on five to six-year programme contracts, all six major US tier-one as customers and end-market diversification across mobility, geo-textiles, industrial and flooring, Nuvama said. The brokerage has raised the company's revenue estimate for 2026–27 (Apr-Mar) by 10.6% and for FY28 by 11%. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation estimates were raised by 18.7% for FY27 and 18.5% for FY28, according to Nuvama. 

 

"We view this acquisition as a positive and a key enabler for Arvind to expand its presence in the US," Nuvama said. Dalco has been in operations for the past four decades and established credentials in the industry. It has been a preferred partner in the mobility segment and is increasing its presence in the geotextiles segment, the brokerage said. 

 

Thursday, shares of the company ended nearly 15% higher at INR 447.90 on the National Stock Exchange.  (Adhithya Aji)

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Equity Alert: Indices seen opening slightly lower on weak global cues

 

MUMBAI--0834 IST--Benchmark equity indices are expected to open slightly lower Friday tracking weakness in their Asian peers and also as crude oil prices resumed its upward trend amid renewed hostilities in West Asia. Thursday, the US and Iran exchanged fire in the key Strait of Hormuz waterway, with each side claiming the other initiated the attack.

 

The US military said it intercepted what it called were "unprovoked" Iranian attacks--including missiles, drones and small boats--and carried out selfdefence strikes as its ships were heading out of the Gulf through the strait, according to media reports. However, US President Donald Trump late Thursday told ABC News that the Iran strikes were "just a love tap", adding that the ceasefire was still in place. 

 

In a Truth Social post later, Trump further reiterated that Iran will face further attacks if they do not agree to a deal. "Just like we knocked them out again today, we'll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don't get their Deal signed, FAST!" he wrote. 

 

Meanwhile, Iran's military accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting its ships, including an oil tanker, that were moving towards the Strait of Hormuz, the BBC reported, citing the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. Iranian state media later reported that the situation "is back to normal now." The July futures contract of Brent Crude oil on the Intercontinental Exchange rose around 3% in early trade Friday to $102.9 per barrel. At 0813 IST, the contract traded over 1% higher at $101.34 per barrel. 

 

In another development, a panel of federal judges on Thursday found Trump had violated the law when he imposed a 10% tariff on most US imports, reports said. In a split ruling, the Court of International Trade found that Trump had wrongly invoked decades old trade law when he applied those duties beginning in February. The president imposed the levies after his previous set of punishing tariffs was struck down by the Supreme Court.

 

The Gift Nifty suggests a slightly lower open for the domestic equity market. At 0824 IST, the May contract of Gift Nifty traded at 24270, around 57 points away from Nifty 50's Thursday close. Technically, the Nifty 50 index is still hovering in congestion range of 23800-24600 points, Vipin Kumaar, senior technical and derivatives analyst at Globe Capital Market, said. "Moving forward, we reiterate our short-term sideways view on Nifty (50) index as long as it is trading in 23800-24600 spot zone on closing basis. Hence, we suggest traders to maintain stocks-specific and levels-based trading approach for the time being," he added. 

 

Friday, investors will focus on March quarter earnings of Nifty 50 companies such as State Bank of India, Titan Co., and Tata Consumer Products Friday. (Arya S. Biju)

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Equity Alert: Asian markets fall on fresh escalation in US-Iran war

 

MUMBAI--0810 IST--Markets in Asia fell as tensions between the US and Iran escalated once again. The warring nations exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz even as media reports indicated that US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire was still in place. This has lowered the prospects of a positive outcome from peace talks. Brent Crude oil futures climbed above $101 per barrel. The S&P ASX 200, Hang Seng, and the KOSPI indices fell the most in the region. 

 

 

"Iran is not a normal Country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question — But they'll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we'll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don't get their Deal signed, FAST!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. 

 

Higher crude oil prices are weighing on Asian economies, most of which are net importers of crude and crude-linked derivatives. "...significant differences in inflation impact across economies, with some seeing more notable price spikes than others. In our view, such divergence is largely due to varying degrees of passthrough from global energy prices to domestic retail fuel," BofA Securities said in a report. Inflation in Asia accelerated to 2.2% on year in March from 1.9% in February, the report highlighted. 

 

The following were the levels of major Asian indices at 0810 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4872.6133	(-)0.57
Hang Seng Index	26328.04	(-)1.12
Nikkei 225 Day	62206.96	(-)1.00
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3802.71	(-)0.98
KOSPI	7374.94	(-)1.54
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4903.66	(-)0.77
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX	8731.70	(-)1.65

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

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Equity Alert: US indices end lower as fears of US-Iran war resurface

 

 

MUMBAI--0745 IST--Indices on Wall Street ended lower Thursday after posting strong gains the day before. The earlier rally, driven by rising confidence in artificial intelligence and earnings, was overshadowed as fears of an escalation of strife between the US and Iran gripped the market. The US and Iran exchanged fresh fire in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent Crude Oil futures edged above the $100 per barrel level. 

 

"Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers," US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social. "U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman," the US Central Command said in a statement on X.

 

Among the stocks in focus on the back of earnings was McDonald's Corp. The burger chain's sales beat the consensus estimates, but Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski was cautious about near-term demand. Kempczinski expects some deceleration in the June quarter due to a rise in gas prices and pointed out increased anxiety among consumers, Bloomberg reported. 

 

Earnings, however, are expected to be healthy going forward. "If you look out to Q2, Q3 and Q4 (Apr-Jun, Jul-Sept, Oct-Dec), the market and analysts are still expecting about 20% or higher earnings growth on a year-over-year basis in those subsequent quarters," Yung-Yu Ma, the chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management, told CNBC. 

 

In macroeconomic news, the number of Americans filing for fresh unemployment claims rose by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 200,000 in the week ended May 2. Reuters had expected this figure to be 205,000. Last week, the claims had declined. 

 

The following were the closing levels of major US indices on Thursday:

 

US Indices	Levels	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	49596.97	(-)0.63
NASDAQ Composite	25806.20	(-)0.13
S&P 500	7337.11	(-)0.38

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

 

US$1 = INR 94.54

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

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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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