Indian Shares Likely To See Cautious Start Ahead Of Trump's Iran Deadline

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening on a cautious note on Tuesday as the clock ticks towards a deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump described a "significant proposal" received from Iran as "not good enough", threatening to decimate Iran within four hours if it did not agree to a deal by Tuesday night.

"We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to," Trump told a press conference.

Iran's military command ?said the U.S. president was "delusional" and called his warnings "rude, arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats".

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty recovered from an early slide to end up more than 1 percent each on Monday.

The rupee rose by 28 paise to close at 92.90 against the U.S. dollar, extending its biggest rally in 12 years, triggered by RBI's crackdown on currency speculation.

Domestic institutional investors net bought shares worth Rs. 8,088.70 crore in the capital market segment on Monday, while foreign institutional investors net sold shares to the extent of Rs. 8,167.17 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were broadly higher this morning, the dollar held near recent highs and Brent crude prices traded above $111 a barrel while gold drifted lower towards $4,600 an ounce.

U.S. stocks edged higher overnight, adding to the strong gains posted last week, as fighting continued in the Middle East and data showed U.S. employers hired more workers last month than economists had expected.

U.S. services sector growth slowed in March, while prices paid by businesses for inputs increased by the most in more than 13 years, separate set of data revealed.

Iran rejected a U.S. proposal for ceasefire and sent back a 10-point proposal that outlines demands, including ending regional conflicts, a protocol governing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of international sanctions and a commitment to reconstruct war-affected areas.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained half a percent while the S&P 500 and the Dow both added around 0.4 percent.

Major European stock markets remained closed on Monday for Easter.