Gift Nifty Points to Modestly Higher Opening for Indian Markets on Friday

Mumbai, Sept 24: Indian markets are expected to open slightly higher on Friday as Gift Nifty was seen moving up in late trade after the cash market took a nosedive. However, most markets in Asia ended in negative territory on Thursday. Crude oil prices went up on Thursday and with the ongoing conflict between Iran and US the situation in the middle east remains in limelight. This comes after the stock market crashed on Thursday when the Nifty traded below 23,100 mark and Sensex crashed more than 1,200 points on spike in crude and increased yields.

Gift Nifty futures of the month September 29 expiry were last seen at 23,144.50 or 47 points up (0.2 per cent) in late trade which suggests an opening of Indian stock market on positive note when market opens at 9.15 am on Friday. The near month contract was at premium of 81.40 points above the close of Nifty on Thursday i.e. 23,063.10. October 27 contract was last seen at 23,179.50 or 31 points up (0.13 per cent).

Near month contract opened at 23,331.50 and was at a high of 23,332.50 at start of the day. It went down steadily throughout the day to touch a low of 23,055. The fall was highest in the early afternoon. Before it started recovering in late trade. The gradual fall shows that although there is a marginal increase the market mood may be weak. Bond yields, crude prices and Iran-US war could decide how the market opens on Friday.

Oil Prices

Oil prices rose on Thursday as WTI crude went up by 1.04 per cent to $93.12 a barrel while Brent crude was up 1.53 per cent at $104.66 a barrel on continued uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz. Murban crude was up by 3.53 per cent at $117.07 which is the highest among all other crude benchmarks. About one-third of the Gulf oil is estimated to have gone missing from the world supply chain as per Reuters. Shortage has been seen in products like diesel which will further push inflation and interest rates higher. The strait accounts for one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas before the outbreak of war. There has been an increase in movement through the strait in past few weeks but companies are paying upto 25% of cargo to pass through it.

Asian Stocks

Most markets in Asia ended in the red on Thursday. Nikkei of Japan was the only gainer at 65,513.99 which is 495.04 points or 0.76 per cent up. Shenzhen index of China closed at 13,316.97 or 2.34 per cent lower. Shanghai was down 1.22 per cent at 3,888.37. Australian market closed at 8,702 down 0.72 per cent. Thai market was at 1,602.58 down by 0.50 per cent. Singapore was down 0.46 per cent at 5,683.37 while Hang seng was lower by 0.29 per cent at 24,761.13. Taiwans index ended at 48,024.60 down 0.28 per cent. Nifty 50 of India closed at 1.64 per cent which made it the lowest in all other markets except Shenzhen.

Iran War

There is still a long way to go to end the war between Iran and US. But we need to talk said a senior Iranian official on Wednesday after Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian told UN General assembly that Iran would never bow down to the pressure of the US. Iran’s President called it bullying by the US President Donald Trump. Trump had also addressed the UN General assembly on Tuesday saying that he will annihilate Iran. Both leaders spoke at the same venue where Iran and US held indirect talks for the first time since the ceasefire broke down in July. Talks were mediated by Qatar. No signs of truce have been shown publicly by either side so far. Iran is evaluating US reaction to their proposal of a ceasefire which includes removing the US Navy blockade of Iran and reopening of strait of Hormuz. US along with Israel started Operation Epic fury against Iran in February and the war has now continued for almost 7 months. It has also extended to Lebanon and Yemen.

Sensex & Nifty  

Stock market indices of India saw a steep fall on Thursday erasing all of Wednesday’s gains. Sensex went down 1,247.71 points or 1.67 per cent to close at 73,580.54 while Nifty lost 383.70 points or 1.64 per cent to close at 23,063.10 on spike in crude oil prices. Sell-off in RELIANCE and bank stocks added to the decline. Global cues also remained negative. Sensex at one point went down as much as 1,264.33 points to 73,563.92. All Sensex stocks except NTPC closed in red.

According to Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money the market saw selling due to high global bond yields and increase in crude oil prices. US 10 year bond yield was seen around 5.11 per cent and US 30 year bond yield at highest since 2004 which increases the possibility of another hike in US interest rates. Insurance and banking stocks continued to trade weak. There were reports of a review on insurance commission by IRDAI. Vinod Nair, Head Research at Geojit Investments. National Stock exchange shares closed around 2 per cent higher at Rs 1,818 on listing day. Foreign Institutional Investors bought stocks worth Rs 1,617.45 crore on Wednesday. 

Source

•  nseix.com
• https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hope-progress-after-us-iran-hold-first-shuttle-talks-months-2026-09-23/
• https://www.cnbc.com/markets/us-markets/
• https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/