Indian Stock Market Outlook

The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Monday, following the escalation of the war in the Middle East. The US-Iran war has rattled investors globally, with Asian markets trading sharply lower and US stock futures declining.

Key Global Market Cues

• Asian Markets: Japan's Nikkei 225 plunged almost 2%, and the Topix tumbled 2.1%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
• Gift Nifty: Traded around 25,223 level, a discount of nearly 115 points from the Nifty futures' previous close, indicating a gap-down start for the Indian stock market indices.
• Wall Street: US stock futures tumbled in overnight trading amid the Iran war. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 517 points, or 1%, while S&P 500 futures lost 1% and Nasdaq 100 futures declined over 1%.

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US Stock Market Performance

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Plunged 521.28 points, or 1.05%, to 48,977.92.
• S&P 500: Declined 29.98 points, or 0.43%, to 6,878.88.
• Nasdaq Composite: Closed 210.17 points, or 0.92%, lower at 22,668.21.

Crude Oil Prices and Gold Rate

• Crude Oil Prices: Jumped 7% to their highest levels in months due to the Middle East conflict, with Brent crude oil price shooting up 7.60% to $78.41 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rallying 7.19% to $71.86.
• Gold Rate: Rallied, as war in the Middle East increased safe-haven demand, with spot gold price rising 1.4% to $5,353.61 an ounce and silver prices gaining 1.5% to $95.23 an ounce.

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Economic Data and Events

• India GDP Growth: Estimated at 7.8% for the October-December quarter, faster than the 7.4% growth seen in the same time a year ago.
• OPEC: Agreed to resume oil production increases next month amid US-Israeli strikes on Iran, with key members led by Saudi Arabia and Russia adding 206,000 barrels a day.
• US Treasury Yields: Jumped on Monday, in a broad risk-off move that pushed yields to multi-month lows, with the benchmark 10-year yield falling to an 11-month low of 3.9260%.