Gift Nifty Gap Down: Indian Shares May Open In Red As Oil Soars On US Iran Blockade 

Mumbai: April 13: Indian benchmark index futures traded gap-down on Monday, hinting that stocks could open lower. GIFT Nifty was trading near 23,693.50 down -326.50 points.

Oil Prices

Stock markets worldwide are likely to react negatively to increased geopolitical risks as well as a spike in crude prices. Brent crude jumped over 8 percent on Sunday to above $103 a barrel after US military officials announced Iran’s ports will be blocked from April 13 following failed peace negotiations in Pakistan last week. The surge in oil prices poses risks to inflation and fiscal balances of oil-importing countries including India and we expect markets to react negatively to the news on Monday morning.

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded mixed with Hang Seng Index tumbling 1.42 per cent lower, Nikkei 225 in Japan down 1.01 percent and ASX All Ordinaries in Australia losing 0.53 percent. Shanghai Composite shed 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, JSX Composite Index Indonesia jumped 2.07 percent, SET Index Thailand gained 1.15 percent and KSE 100 Pakistan surged 1.01 percent higher. North Asia remains weak and into the broader Asian day. With oil prices surging, energy will continue to be a key factor driving sentiment in the Asian markets.

Rupee 

The rupee had strengthened 0.4 per cent last week to 92.7275 per dollar, building on a rally of nearly 2 percent in the previous week when lenders were forced to book profits on arbitrage positions with overseas units to unwind trades and comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s order capping their onshore foreign exchange positions.