Gift Nifty Signals cautious-to-negative start for D-Street on Friday amid Wall Street, Asia declines; rally of oil prices

Mumbai, July 17: Indian equity markets are likely to open cautious-to-negative on Friday tracking overnight weakness on Wall Street and a broadly weaker Asian pack amid fresh gains in crude oil prices. Gift Nifty futures suggested a tepid start for the Nifty50 benchmark, with risk sentiment turning jittery after Iran hinted that it may ask its Houthi allies in Yemen to close shipping artery in the Red Sea. Global investors will continue to trade geopolitical headlines through the day even as June-quarter earnings season keeps stock-specific action underway. 

Gift Nifty contracts for July 28 expiry traded at 24,093.50, down 77 points or 0.32 per cent as of 7:48 am on Friday, suggesting a weak opening for Nifty50 on NSE. 

Asian Markets on Friday Morning 

Most Asian markets traded sharply lower on Friday morning with Japan’s Nikkei 225 shedding 4.06 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng losing 0.89 per cent. Australia’s S& P ASX All Ordinaries index fell 0.87 per cent while Shanghai Composite index eased 0.88 per cent. Malaysia’s FBM KLCI and Indonesia’s JSX Composite traded higher, bucking the weak trend among its regional peers. Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE 100 was the standout gainer across the region, climbing up by 1.62 per cent. 

US Markets as on Thursday 

US markets closed lower on Thursday with tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunging 1.47 per cent and broad-market S& P 500 index down by 0.51 per cent. Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.20 per cent while Canada’s S& P/TSX Composite eased 0.21 per cent. Among the major US equity indexes, NYSE Composite was the lone gainer, inching up by 0.33 per cent. 

Iran War 

Tensions between the US and Iran escalated into a sixth day on Thursday with Trump threatening at yet broader escalation after an interim ceasefire agreement reached last month quickly unravelled. Iran raised the stakes further saying that it may ask its Houthi rebels in Yemen to block Bab al- Mandeb strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea if US attacks its power grid as President Donald Trump has threatened to do. Analysts noted that even a major escalation by the US may not succeed in altering Tehran’s calculus and may just harden Iran’s stance instead. Trump has also spoken about hitting energy facilities, Iranian bridges and the buried location where nuclear work is still underway at Natanz. He has even considered deploying ground forces to capture the Kharg Island crude facility, according to people familiar with the discussions. The US has reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports and revoked a waiver allowing Iran to sell oil abroad. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices rose for a fifth straight session on Friday to fresh highs of session after Iran and the US traded more blows across the Gulf region in what was turning out to be an open-ended confrontation. Brent crude futures were up 34 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $85.28 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 26 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $79.98 a barrel, rebounding from losses on the previous session. Both benchmarks have gained almost 12 per cent each this week. Brent is heading for a third straight weekly gain while WTI would register its second weekly gain if current levels hold. Both benchmarks gained with Brent hitting its highest since October 2018. The rally came after Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen threatened to close down Bab al-Mandeb shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea, chalking up another supply threat to the already vulnerable Strait of Hormuz. “Oil market security is still a big issue,” International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told Reuters late on Thursday. “If this situation continues for a longer period without improvement, I would be worried.” 

Thursday Closing of Indian Bourses 

Indian benchmark indices ended with marginal difference on Thursday after trading seesaw during the session, as positive smoke remained restricted to IT and consumer-focused stocks while banking, realty and some financials ended weak. Sensex inched up 1.44 points or 0 per cent to close at 77,186.87 and Nifty50 slipped 5.75 points or 0.02 per cent to settle at 24,072.75 on NSE. Market breadth turned weak during the later-half with 2,119 stocks closing in red as compared to 1,947 finishing in green. Nifty IT index rose 0.7 per cent and Nifty Consumer Durables index jumped 1.5 per cent and was led by a 6.3 per cent spike in Dixon Technologies after the Union Cabinet approved the new incentive scheme for electronics manufacturing.

Source:

• nseindia.com
• https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-threatens-new-iran-escalation-risks-repeating-old-mistakes-2026-07-16/
• https://www.reuters.com/markets/stocks/asia-pacific/
• https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-rises-intensifying-us-iran-hostilities-threat-red-sea-closure-2026-07-17/