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Informist, Friday, May 22, 2026

By Arundathi A R

MUMBAI – Analysts expect domestic benchmark equity indices to open higher Friday, tracking early gains in Asian markets. Market sentiment in the near term will largely depend on the outcome of the Iran government's ongoing review of the US's latest proposal for a potential deal to end the war. Brent crude oil prices, which are now around a lower level of $105 a barrel, will move according to further developments in the potential peace talks.

US President Donald Trump said he is willing to wait "a couple of days" for an Iranian response to the latest American offer, CBS News reported. He also said his team was "pretty impressed" by Iran's negotiators, but that "we have to get the right answers" to avoid a return to war.

Esmaeil Baqaei, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, has said Tehran had "received the points of view of the American side" and was examining them, Firstpost reported. He repeated Iran's demands for the release of frozen assets and an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports, the report said.

At 0732 IST, Brent crude oil July futures were almost 2% higher at $104.49 a barrel. Crude oil prices have eased since Wednesday after developments on the global front. The July futures contract of Brent crude shed over 4% in a week and over 5% in a month.

At 0755 IST, the May futures contract of the GIFT Nifty was 0.1% lower at 23654. This was marginally lower than the Nifty 50's previous close of 23654.70. The June futures contract of the GIFT Nifty was also 0.1% lower at 23716.50. This was, however, over 60 points higher than the Nifty 50's Thursday close.

"India markets are expected to open on a positive note today," Sundar Kewat, technical and derivatives analyst at Ashika Group, said. "The Nifty index yesterday (Thursday) faced resistance near the 23800 level, which is likely to continue acting as a key resistance zone in today's session as well. On the downside, the 23500 level is expected to provide immediate support." From a technical perspective, Kewat said that as long as the Nifty 50 sustains above the 23500 mark, the overall bias remains bullish and buy-on-dips strategy may continue to prevail, while a decisive break below 23500 could trigger further weakness, dragging the index towards the 23300 level in the near term. 

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree Thursday, while domestic investors supported the equity market. The foreign outflow from the market was INR 18.91 billion in the last session, while domestic investors net bought shares worth INR 24.94 billion. Foreign investors net sold shares worth INR 242.29 billion in a week.

Shares of Max Healthcare Institute will be in focus as the company reported its March quarter results Thursday post market hours. It reported a 7% on-year rise in its consolidated net profit for the quarter and its top line grew over 12% on year. Both the key metrics of the company missed the Street's view for the March quarter.

Hindalco Industries, Eicher Motors, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries will also be in focus Friday as they will announce their March quarter earnings later in the day. The consolidated on-year revenue growth of Eicher Motors for the March quarter is seen at a six-quarter low, as dispatches of its Royal Enfield motorcycles underperformed the industry due to production constraints. The company's consolidated net profit for the quarter is expected at INR 14.39 billion, up 5.6% on year.

Sun Pharmaceutical is likely to post an year-on-year rise in net profit and revenue, led by its India formulations business and specialty products. The company is expected to report a rise of nearly 11% on year in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at nearly INR 27.86 billion. Its revenue is seen at INR 145.94 billion, up nearly 13% on year.

In the global equity market, all Asian indices were higher on optimism of a potential peace deal between the US and Iran. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained over 2% in early trade. All three major US indices also settled higher Thursday.  End

US$1 = INR 96.20

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

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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