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Informist, Friday, May 29, 2026

By Arundathi A R

MUMBAI – The headline indices are seen opening slightly lower Friday after Thursday's Bakri Id holiday amid the continuing uncertainty around the US-Iran peace negotiations. The movement of the GIFT Nifty June futures contract suggested a lower opening for the equity market despite the steep fall in crude oil prices to around $93 a barrel. The pending approval of US President Donald Trump for a proposed 60-day ceasefire deal will add to the negative sentiment for the domestic market, according to analysts. Asian markets are, however, up in early trade.

The US and Iran reached a preliminary memorandum of understanding for an extension of the ceasefire between the two countries for 60 days and started negotiations to permanently end the war, Al Jazeera reported, quoting officials. "The framework still needs President Donald Trump's final approval. If finalised, the agreement would be a major breakthrough after weeks of stalled diplomacy," US officials told Al Jazeera Thursday.

In another development, Iran's armed forces fired missiles at unidentified targets late Thursday, CNBC reported, quoting the state media outlet Fars. Earlier Thursday, a White House official confirmed an Axios report that the US and Iran have "mostly agreed" to the terms of an agreement to temporarily end the three-month-old war. "According to Axios, the deal stipulates that vessel traffic would be "unrestricted" in the Strait of Hormuz, and that the US would lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports," according to a report by Al Jazeera.

At 0724 IST, the Brent crude oil July futures contract was down slightly at $93.24 a barrel. Crude oil price was down for the third session. It has fallen nearly 11% in a week and over 17% in the last seven days. Brent crude fell to a low of $92 a barrel Thursday for the first time since Apr. 20. Analysts see the equity market normalising only when crude oil prices return to the pre-war levels.

"Markets are likely to witness a bit negative opening on back of global cues," Ruchit Jain, head of technical research at Motilal Oswal, said. "However, we are likely to witness buying interest at lower levels as the broad markets momentum remain strong. Hence, traders are advised to keep a buy-on-dip approach and trade with a positive bias."

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers Wednesday and offloaded shares worth INR 10.43 billion. Domestic investors net bought shares of INR 38.21 billion. However, in the last seven days, the foreign investment flow has risen over 76%. "FII (foreign institutional investor) selling has been seen abating in the last few days," Mangesh Bhadang, assistant vice-president of investments at Avvashya Capital, said.

At 0807 IST, the June futures contract of GIFT Nifty was largely flat at 23882.50 points. This was over 24 points lower than the Nifty 50's Wednesday close of 23907.15. "GIFT Nifty is indicating a muted opening for the domestic markets," Vipin Kumar, technical and derivatives analyst at Globe Capital Market, said. "We anticipate a sideways session in intraday with immediate supports placed around 23800 spot levels and resistances around 24100 spot levels."

On the earnings front, Asian Paints and InterGlobe Aviation will detail their March quarter earnings later in the day. Asian Paints is expected to report steady growth in its bottom line for the quarter despite cost inflation stemming from supply disruptions caused by the war in West Asia. The company's net profit for the quarter is expected to rise 20% on year to INR 10.46 billion. Its top line is expected to rise 5% on year to INR 87.89 billion. Shares of Asian Paints closed almost 1% higher Wednesday.

InterGlobe Aviation, operator of IndiGo airline, is expected to report a net loss for the March quarter. The rise in its top line is seen to be the slowest on year in 20 quarters as the aviation industry was hit by the fallout of the West Asia war. The company is expected to report a loss of INR 19.86 billion while the revenue is expected to grow only 2% on year and fall almost 4% on quarter to INR 225.69 billion. Wednesday, shares of InterGlobe Aviation had ended 2% higher from Tuesday.

In other Asian markets, Taiwan's TAIEX was the top gainer, up over 2%. All three major US indices also ended higher Thursday.  End

US$1 = INR 95.69

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

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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