Markets Set for Muted Open on Monday; Iran War Hostilities Resume, Oil Climbs

Mumbai, June 29: Domestic equity markets are set to open on a subdued note on Monday, as renewed hostilities in the Middle East and a fresh uptick in oil prices rattled investor sentiment over the weekend. Gift Nifty futures are signalling a cautious start, with the Iran war ceasefire under pressure from days of tit-for-tat strikes between the United States and Iran threatening to unwind the fragile peace deal that had briefly sent crude prices to pre-war levels last week. 

Gift Nifty futures for the June 30 contract were trading at 24,082.00, down 13.50 points or 0.06%, as of 7:43 am IST on June 29, pointing to a flat-to-slightly-lower opening for Indian benchmark indices. The signal comes against the Nifty 50’s previous close of 24,056.00, suggesting the index could open in the vicinity of that level with a marginal negative bias as markets digest the weekend’s geopolitical developments. 

Iran War 

Iran and the United States agreed on Sunday to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks regarding their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said, raising hopes of salvaging the 14-point memorandum of understanding signed on June 17. The agreement followed several days of escalating strikes and counterstrikes after an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the strait on Thursday, with Iran launching missiles and drones at U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early Sunday, shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that Iran would cease to exist if it did not honour the interim peace accord. Separately, Israel said on Sunday it had once again struck Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, destroying underground infrastructure in a village in southern Lebanon, a move Iran said must stop if the broader agreement is to hold. Technical talks are now scheduled to resume Tuesday in Qatar, with both sides agreeing to stand down in the interim and allowing vessels to move freely through the strait. 

Oil Prices 

Oil prices climbed on Monday following the weekend’s renewed strikes, with Brent crude futures rising 58 cents, or 0.8%, to $72.57 a barrel at 0207 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 88 cents, or 1.3%, to $70.11 a barrel. The uptick reversed some of last week’s sharp losses, during which Brent crude fell 10.6% — its third consecutive weekly decline — after crude shipments through the strait rose to their highest level since the Iran war began in late February. ANZ analysts cautioned that physical flows remain constrained by tanker backlogs, damaged infrastructure, and production shut-ins, adding it could take the remainder of the year before supply approaches pre-conflict levels. Saudi Aramco resumed crude oil loadings at its Ras Tanura terminal on Friday, though Aramco’s operations were separately disrupted after a helicopter crash at the terminal on Sunday killed 14 workers. 

Asian Markets on Monday Morning 

Asian markets were trading in mixed territory on Monday morning, with a clear divergence between Northeast and Southeast Asian bourses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell sharply by 1.09% to 68,605.97, erasing most of the previous session’s gains, while Indonesia’s JSX Composite dropped 1.72% to 5,896.13 and Thailand’s SET Index declined 1.04% to 1,542.34, as the resumption of Iran-U.S. hostilities weighed on risk sentiment across the region. On the positive side, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.98% to 22,894.60 and Pakistan’s KSE 100 advanced 1.06% to 179,571.27, while China’s Shanghai SE Composite edged up 0.19% to 4,035.04 and Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries added a marginal 0.09% to 8,972.10. Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI and Vietnam’s HNX 30 Index were the other decliners, falling 0.36% and 0.47% respectively. 

US Markets on Friday 

U.S. markets ended Friday’s session on a broadly negative note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.09% to 51,876.11 and the S&P 500 edging down 0.05% to 7,354.02, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.24% to 25,297.62 as technology stocks continued to face selling pressure. The NYSE Composite bucked the trend to end higher by 0.33% at 23,689.23, and Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite also advanced 0.37% to 34,980.00, reflecting resilience in energy and materials names even as Wall Street’s broader indices retreated. 

Indian Markets on Thursday 

Indian benchmark indices surrendered most of their intraday gains on Thursday to close modestly higher, as selling in metal, energy, and IT stocks offset strength in auto and FMCG shares. The Sensex rose 109.25 points, or 0.14%, to close at 77,100.47, while the Nifty 50 gained 34.35 points, or 0.14%, to settle at 24,056.00 after briefly trading at significantly higher levels during the session. Markets had opened on a firm note aided by easing crude oil prices and positive global cues, but momentum faded through the day as investors booked profits in several heavyweight sectors, causing benchmark indices to erase much of their early gains by the closing bell. 

Source

•  nseix.com | Gift Nifty futures as of 7:43 am IST, June 29, 2026. Reuters. Asian and US market data as of Monday morning/Friday close. BSE/NSE.