Market Open Report, June 3, 2026: Markets Open Deep in Red as Iran War Hostilities Flare Anew; Sensex Sheds 668 Points, Nifty Below 23,320

Mumbai, June 3: Domestic capital markets opened sharply lower on Wednesday morning, dragged down by a fresh outbreak of hostilities in the Iran war that rattled global risk appetite and sent oil prices surging past the $97-a-barrel mark, compounding pressure on domestic markets already grappling with elevated crude, persistent foreign fund outflows and a weak global cue. 

The BSE Sensex tumbled 668.35 points or 0.90% to 73,981.49 as of 09:20, while the Nifty 50 fell 182.20 points or 0.78% to 23,301.35, extending the weakness that Gift Nifty futures had telegraphed in pre-market trade the June 30 contract had opened the session at 23,472.50, down 20 points, flagging a muted-to-negative start.

Gainers & Losers

Among the handful of Nifty 50 stocks bucking the selloff, Adani Ports & SEZ was the top gainer, with its LTP at ₹1,829.30 against a previous close of ₹1,814.50, up 0.82%, followed by Apollo Hospitals at ₹8,136 versus ₹8,089.50, gaining 0.57%, and Coal India, which edged up 0.41% to ₹474.10 from ₹472.15; Bharti Airtel added 0.40% to ₹1,821.40 from ₹1,814.20, while Hindalco inched up marginally to ₹1,147.60 from its previous close of ₹1,146.30, rising 0.11%. 

On the losing side, TCS was the session’s biggest casualty, collapsing 4.05% to an LTP of ₹2,347.90 from a previous close of ₹2,446.90 shedding nearly ₹99 while Infosys fell 2.46% to ₹1,239.50 from ₹1,270.80, HCL Technologies declined 2.28% to ₹1,215.20 from ₹1,243.50, and Tech Mahindra dropped 2.14% to ₹1,537.80 from ₹1,571.40; Wipro rounded off the top five losers with a 1.67% fall to ₹206.34 from its previous close of ₹209.84.

Broad Markets & Sectoral Indices

In the broader market, the Nifty 100 declined 0.67% to 24,327.05 from 24,491.30, the Nifty 200 shed 0.61% to 13,494.70 from 13,577.00, and the Nifty 500 was down 0.54% at 22,399.70 from a previous close of 22,521.10; the Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.35% to 60,731.00 from 60,942.00, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 was largely steady, easing just 0.06% to 18,041.00 from 18,052.30, and the Nifty Midcap Select slipped 0.59% to 14,156.65 from 14,240.45. 

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT was the standout loser, plunging 2.64% to 30,295.80 from 31,116.55, followed by Nifty FMCG which fell 0.83% to 48,210.05 from 48,612.80, and Nifty PSU Bank which declined 0.81% to 7,984.25 from 8,049.15; on the positive side, Nifty Metal was flat-to-marginally positive at 13,560.60 from 13,557.65 (+0.02%), Nifty Energy edged up 0.06% to 40,213.65 from 40,189.65, and Nifty India Defence gained 0.19% to 9,007.80 from 8,990.45, the latter likely benefiting from heightened geopolitical risk premium.

Iran War: Hostilities Flare Anew

Gulf hostilities erupted again on Wednesday, with U.S. Central Command confirming that Iranian ballistic missiles fired at Kuwait and Bahrain either fell short, broke apart in flight, or were intercepted, while U.S. forces retaliated with strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island near the critical Strait of Hormuz a vital artery that remains largely closed to maritime traffic. According to Iranian state media, the IRGC claimed to have targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain using missiles and drones, while U.S. Central Command said all attacks failed and its forces remained fully ready to repel what it called “unwarranted Iranian aggression.” The conflict has now stretched more than three months since the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, with a shaky ceasefire unable to prevent repeated flare-ups and diplomacy at a near-standstill Iranian media reported Tehran had not communicated with Washington for several days, even as President Trump insisted negotiations were continuing daily. 

Asian Markets

Asian markets were broadly positive on Wednesday morning, shrugging off the Middle East flare-up to post gains across most major indices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 led the region with a commanding 2.69% advance to 68,528.04, while Indonesia’s JSX Composite climbed 1.11%, Thailand’s SET Index gained 1.26%, and Shanghai’s SSE Composite rose 0.57%; Malaysia’s KLCI and Australia’s All Ordinaries also advanced, up 0.45% and 0.60% respectively, with KSE 100 adding 0.25%. The primary exceptions were Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which fell 1.66% to 25,607.03, and Vietnam’s HNX 30, which slid 1.87%, but these were outliers in an otherwise constructive regional session.

US Markets Tuesday Close

Wall Street closed Tuesday’s session firmly in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 228.91 points or 0.45% to 51,307.79, the S&P 500 adding 9.82 points or 0.13% to 7,609.78, and the Nasdaq Composite edging up 0.03% to 27,093.90. The NYSE Composite gained a more solid 0.62% to 23,480.92, while Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite was among the stronger performers, advancing 1.25% to 35,169.46 as commodity-linked markets caught a bid ahead of key U.S. crude inventory data.

Oil Prices

Oil prices surged more than 1% in early Wednesday trade as the renewed outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East stoked fresh fears about supply disruptions, with Brent crude futures climbing $1.05 or 1.09% to $97.05 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate advancing $1.01 or 1.08% to $94.77. The move was compounded by tightening U.S. supply conditions, with American Petroleum Institute data showing crude stockpiles fell for a seventh consecutive week, declining by 6.8 million barrels in the week ended May 29. ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes cautioned that any meaningful reopening of the Strait of Hormuz faces significant obstacles given that Iran has mined large portions of the waterway, keeping vessel transits well below pre-conflict levels.

Tuesday’s Close of Indian Markets

Indian equity markets had ended Tuesday on a positive note, with the Sensex rising 382.50 points or 0.52% to 74,649.84 and the Nifty 50 gaining 100.95 points or 0.43% to settle at 23,483.55, comfortably above the 23,400 mark snapping a four-session losing streak on the back of a sharp technology-driven rally. TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra had led the charge on Tuesday, benefiting from renewed optimism around AI-driven technology spending, though that very rally is now being unwound in Wednesday’s opening session. Market breadth had been positive on Tuesday, with 2,222 stocks advancing against 1,803 declines, but the complexion of Wednesday’s early trade is markedly different, with the Iran war escalation and soaring oil prices setting a firmly defensive tone across the board.

Details of Markets on Wednesday Morning

The markets’ slide came on the back of a significant reversal from Tuesday’s gains, when the Sensex had risen 382.50 points and the Nifty had climbed 100.95 points to settle at 23,483.55 on the back of a sharp IT-driven rally. Wednesday’s opening wiped out much of that recovery, with the IT sector itself turning into the session’s biggest drag a striking reversal from its role as the market’s leader just 24 hours earlier. The Nifty IT index was the worst-performing sectoral index at the open, sliding 2.64% to 30,295.80 from a previous close of 31,116.55, as profit-booking set in aggressively following Tuesday’s surge and global sentiment toward the technology sector soured amid the renewed geopolitical flare-up.

The broader tone of the market was unambiguously negative. India VIX, the fear gauge, jumped 4.75% to 16.09, signalling that traders were pricing in significantly higher near-term volatility. The sharp spike in VIX, combined with broad-based selling across large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap indices, reflected a market in risk-off mode one that was unwilling to hold positions with the Iran situation escalating and Brent crude pushing toward $97 a barrel. The rupee’s vulnerability to higher oil was an additional overhang, given that India imports the bulk of its crude requirements and any sustained rise in energy prices directly widens the current account deficit and pressures the currency.

Source:

• bseindia.com
• nseindia.com
• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/top-gainers-losers
• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/live-market-indices