Gift Nifty Points to Weak Opening for Indian Markets on Wednesday

Mumbai, Sept 22: Indian markets are set for a weak opening on Wednesday, with Gift Nifty down sharply in late trade even as Asian markets closed Tuesday mixed to firmer, oil prices slid on the day, and the standoff over Yemen and Iran kept the Middle East conflict in focus. The move follows a choppy Tuesday session in the cash market, when the Nifty broke a four-day winning streak and slipped below 23,400 on the weekly expiry.

Gift Nifty futures for the September 29 expiry were trading at 23,385, down 150.5 points, or 0.64 per cent, in late deals, pointing to a sharply weaker opening for Indian equities once trade begins at 9.15 am on Wednesday. The October 27 contract was last at 23,445, down a similar 160.50 points, or 0.68 per cent, keeping the near-term futures curve broadly in step with the September contract.

The near-month contract opened at 23,502.50 and touched a high of 23,526 early in the session before sliding through the day to a low of 23,272, before a partial recovery into the close. The steady erosion through the session, from a firm open to a sharp intraday slide, suggests risk appetite deteriorated through Tuesday, even as global cues around crude prices and the unresolved Middle East standoff remain the key swing factors heading into Wednesday’s opening bell.

Oil Prices

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, with WTI crude down 2.74 per cent to $89.84 a barrel and Brent crude sliding 2.13 per cent to $98.20, extending the retreat from levels near $110 seen last week. Murban crude, the key Gulf benchmark, bucked the broader trend and jumped 3.80 per cent to $114.20, a divergence that underscored the uneven impact of Saudi Arabia’s rerouting of exports through the Strait of Hormuz. The Opec Basket tumbled 4.50 per cent to $111.00, even as diesel prices in the United States hit a fresh record on Monday.

Asian Stocks

Asian markets closed Tuesday’s session mixed to firmer, with Malaysia’s benchmark leading regional gainers, up 0.99 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei held on to a 1.38 per cent advance and Singapore’s STI rose 0.86 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.18 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.15 per cent, while mainland China’s Shanghai Composite was little changed and the Shenzhen Component slipped a marginal 0.05 per cent. The broadly steady regional tone stood in contrast to India’s own Nifty 50, which fell 0.36 per cent on Tuesday even as most of its Asian peers held firmer.

Iran War

Diplomacy over the wider Iran conflict has remained stalled since a June interim ceasefire between Washington and Tehran collapsed within weeks, with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian due to fly to New York on Tuesday to attend the UN General Assembly. The Yemen fighting has extended a war Trump launched alongside Israel as “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran in February, and the White House has so far resisted repeated pleas from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to join the Houthi fight directly. The New York Times reported that Trump had called off planned American airstrikes on the Houthis at the last minute on Sunday, even as troops were said to be loading bombs onto aircraft, a report Reuters could not independently verify. Riyadh was struck for the first time since the escalation began over the weekend, with explosions reported near the airport, even as Saudi authorities have not commented on the claim.

Indian equity benchmarks broke a four-day winning streak on Tuesday, with the Nifty slipping below the 23,400 mark to close at 23,329, down 85.30 points, or 0.36 per cent, while the Sensex declined nearly 200 points on the weekly expiry session. Market breadth remained neutral even as a majority of sectors stayed under pressure, with financial, IT and pharma stocks leading the declines even as realty stocks defied the choppy mood to end higher. The India VIX declined during the session, signalling some easing in near-term volatility despite the weaker headline close. Broader markets remained subdued, with both the small-cap and mid-cap indices ending in the red, extending the day’s cautious tone across market segments.

Source:

• nseix.com, Reuters, CNBC, oilprice.com. Figures as of press time and subject to revision.
• https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/houthis-push-control-yemen-highlands-trump-reported-have-called-off-airstrikes-2026-09-21/
• https://www.cnbc.com/markets/us-markets/
• https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/