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Informist, Thursday, Jul. 2, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Indices may open higher; crude down amid easing W Asia tensions

 

MUMBAI--0822 IST--Benchmarck equity indices may open higher as crude oil prices edged lower in early trade Thursday after Qatar said Iran and the US had made "positive progress" in indirect talks focused on the Strait of Hormuz, in Doha on Wednesday. Further, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued, improving supply amid easing West Asia tensions, according to reports. 

 

The September futures contract of Brent Crude declined over 1% to $70.67 per barrel, the lowest level since the beginning of the four-month-long West Asia war. So far, the contract has shed over 42% from the high of $122.53 per barrel hit late April. The supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has now reached more than 10 million barrels per day, Bloomberg reported, citing a US official. Adding to supply, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries along with oil-producing countries will likely agree to a further hike in their output targets from August when they meet Sunday, Reuters reported, citing sources. The target will increase by about 188,000 barrels per day for August, the same as for June and July. 

 

Negotiators from the US and Iran spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and unfreezing Iran's funds, Reuters reported, citing sources. US President Donald Trump also hailed progress in negotiations between the warring countries. Trump told reporters that negotiations with Iran in Qatar were going well. "The denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well," Trump said. "They've had very good meetings and we'll see." The renewed diplomatic push follows a flare-up in hostilities over the weekend that threatened the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran. However, Israeli forces continued to launch attacks on southern Lebanon despite ceasefire agreement, Al Jazeera reported. 

 

Asian markets were largely mixed in early trade. South Korea's Kospi led the losses in Asia, falling over 5% at the open, prompting the Korean Exchange to temporarily halt trading for five minutes to curb volatility. Shares of South Korean memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell more than 7% in early trade, tracking overnight losses in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite amid the global tech selloff. Japan's Nikkei 225, China's CSI 300 Index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also traded in the red, down 0.1-2%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Singapore's FTSE Singapore Strait Times was 1.3% and 0.5% higher. 

 

Back in the domestic market, shares of information technology stocks will be in focus amid the global tech sell-off. The American depository receipts of Wipro slumped nearly 17% Wednesday, even as the ADRs of peer Infosys ticked higher. Aviation and hospitality stocks are also expected to remain in focus as lower aviation turbine fuel prices and reduction in commercial 19-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas prices are expected to ease operating cost pressures, while the government's withdrawal of temporary restrictions on fuel sales for commercial buyers signals normalisation of domestic supply conditions, Siddhartha Khemka, head of research-wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said in a note.  

 

The July futures contract of the Gift Nifty indicates that the domestic market may open higher. At 0813 IST, the futures contract was at 24187.50, around 182 points above the Nifty 50's previous close. Moving forward, a sustained move of the Nifty 50 above the recent swing high of 24261 points could strengthen bullish momentum and pave the way for a move towards 24500 and 25000 points in July, Sundar Kewat, technical and derivatives analyst at Ashika Institutional Equities, said. Conversely, a decisive close below 23500 may invite renewed selling pressure and weaken the near-term technical structure, he added. (Arya S. Biju)

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Equity Alert: Asian indices mixed, Kospi falls 7% but pares losses

 

MUMBAI--0800 IST--Asian equity indices were mixed in early trade on Thursday, with South Korea's Kospi leading the losses. The South Korean index tumbled more than 5% at open, prompting the exchange to temporarily halt trading to curtail volatility. The index has fallen 7% since open. This comes amid a fall in semiconductor stocks and the country's inflation rate hitting the highest since December 2023, which increases chances of a rate hike by Bank of Korea later this month. Meanwhile, indices in Hong Kong and Singapore and Japan's Topix were higher.

 

Inflation in South Korea came in at 3.2% for June, a two year-high. While the June reading was largely in line with expectations, it was the fourth straight month of rise. The South Korean central bank will hold its monetary policy meeting on Jul. 16. The country's headline index came off lows and was down 2.5% at 0742 IST.

 

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. fell at least 8?ch. US peers Micron Technology and Sandisk Corp. had closed 10% down each. This was after Bloomberg reported Meta building a cloud business to sell excess artificial intelligence computing capacity. This raised questions about in artificial intelligence capacity, inducing a sell-off in chipmakers. 
 

"One of the characteristics of the bull market has been rotation. The attribute has been on full display in 2026," Ned Davis Research Strategist Rob Anderson was quoted as saying by CNBC. "A passing of the baton to a non-commodity cyclical sector would be further evidence that the stock market is entering the second half of the year in a position of strength and that the bull market can continue deep into the second half of the year."

 

Following are the levels of key indices in the region at 0742 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4879.22	(-)1.61
Hang Seng Index	23327.50	1.95
Nikkei 225 Day	69801.74	(-)0.96
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	4048.20	0.91
KOSPI	8095.48	(-)2.50
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5187.21	0.50
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8718.50	(-)0.05

 

(Gopika Balasubramanium)

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Equity Alert: US mkt ends down, chip stocks drag Nasdaq; Dow hits record high

 

MUMBAI--0750 IST--Headline stock indices in the US closed slightly lower on Wednesday amid a fall in semiconductor stocks, which dragged down the Nasdaq. However, the fall in the index was limited, as some technology stocks gained. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high but pared gains to close flat. Caution prevailed among market participants as the US and Iran are far from reaching a lasting peace deal. Officials from both nations met in Doha for a round of indirect talks Wednesday. 

 

On Wednesday, the Nasdaq closed around 1% lower. Elevated valuations and huge spending on artificial intelligence by technology companies have been a concern for some market participants. Nvidia and Broadcom fell roughly 1% and 2%, respectively, in the session. Shares of Meta Platform rose 8.8?ter Bloomberg News reported that the company was building a cloud business to sell excess artificial intelligence computing capacity.

 

"The 'Great Rotation' trade persists into (the third quarter) as the blue boring names of the Dow Jones [Industrials] continue to attract inflows directly from recent profit taking money from tech stocks," Jeff Kilburg, founder and CEO of KKM Financial, told CNBC. "This is extremely healthy and underscores the broadening breadth of equities for this continued bull market in its fourth year."

 

Traders also tracked fresh economic data on manufacturing activity and comments by US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh earlier in the day at the European Central Bank conference in Portugal. While Warsh did not give any hints about the monetary policy decision at the upcoming meeting this month, he said "we've seen that prices are too high," CNBC reported. Meanwhile, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing activity slowed in June but was still solid, Reuters reported. Traders will now track employment data slated to be released later in the day.

 

Following were the closing levels of major US indices on Wednesday:

 

US Indices	Levels	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	52305.24	(-)0.03
NASDAQ Composite	26040.03	(-)0.66
S&P 500	7483.23	(-)0.22

 

(Gopika Balasubramanium)

 

US$1 = INR 95.25

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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