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Informist, Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2026

By Arundathi A R

MUMBAI – After posting significant losses in the previous session, domestic benchmark indices are likely to extend losses to Wednesday as the US conducted another round of attacks against Iranian military assets. Amid the ongoing escalations in West Asia, crude oil prices stayed at $85 a barrel on fears of supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz.

The US Central Command said it has completed the latest wave of strikes against Iranian military targets, according to a CNBC report. "The five-hour mission struck military targets across the country and further degraded Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping," the report said, citing Centcom.

US President Donald Trump Tuesday rolled back his decision to charge a 20% fee on ships transiting the Strait and offered instead that he would strike "trade and investment deals" with Gulf allies. "Oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military," Trump posted on his Truth Social account. "BY FAR, the Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION. We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo."

At 0729 IST, the September futures contract of Brent crude oil traded at $85.68 per barrel, over 1% higher from its Tuesday close. The current levels are still nearly 18% higher than the pre-war levels. Analysts expect crude oil prices near $90 per barrel, daunting the equity market.

The movement of the July futures contract of GIFT Nifty also suggested a slightly lower opening for the equity market Wednesday. At 0742 IST, the GIFT Nifty contract was at 24045, a tad lower than Tuesday's close and a mere 7 points down from the Nifty 50's Tuesday close.

"GIFT Nifty is indicating a muted opening for the domestic markets," Vipin Kumar, assistant vice president of research at Globe Capital Market, said. "The broadening chart structure points toward further consolidation as long as the index remains within the 23800–24600 spot zone. Within this range, crossing and sustaining above the 24330 spot level could lead it toward 24600; conversely, a fall below 23960 could drag it back to 23800 in the immediate near term."

Shares of HDFC Life Insurance Co. will be tracked as the company will announce its June quarter earnings later in the day. The stock closed over 3% lower Tuesday.

Brokerage Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities has cut its target price on Tata Elxsi by 20% to INR 3,857 after the company posted its June quarter results post-market hours Tuesday. The brokerage has also retained a "hold" recommendation on the stock.

Tata Elxsi reported a sharp sequential decline in net profit for the June quarter as total expenses rose faster than revenue. The company's bottom line fell short of analysts' consensus estimate, while the top line surpassed the Street view by a comfortable margin. However, the company sees a healthy pipeline and fruitful conversations in the US and the Asia-Pacific to give it confidence about growth in the transportation vertical in upcoming quarters, though some weakness in demand is seen among automotive clients in Europe. Shares of the company ended over 3% lower last session.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers Tuesday, while domestic investors continued supporting the market. Foreign investors were sellers for the past two sessions and offloaded equity shares worth INR 7.4 billion Tuesday. Domestic investors net bought shares worth INR 29.3 billion.

In the global equity market, all the three major US indices settled largely flat to marginally higher Tuesday. All Asian equity indices were higher in early trade, with South Korea's KOSPI gaining 7%.  End

US$1 = INR 96.20

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

Edited by Shubhayan Bhattacharya

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