Indian Shares Seeking Rebound As Trump Delays Iran Strike

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may track global markets higher on Tuesday as bond yields and the dollar retreated, and crude oil prices plunged on signs of easing Middle East tensions.

Brent crude prices plunged more than 10 percent on Monday following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to delay fresh strikes on Iran.

Trump's Iran war comments also helped traders price in a few basis points worth of Federal Reserve easing by the end of the year.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty tumbled 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively on Monday as investors confronted with surging crude prices, rising bond yields and a record-low rupee.

The rupee closed flat at 93.53 against the greenback, after having breached the 94-per-dollar mark for the first time ever earlier in the day on persistent foreign fund outflows.

Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 10,414 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the extent of Rs 12,034 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

FII selling on Monday was the biggest since March 13, while the DII buying was the largest since March 16.

Asian stocks were broadly higher this morning, though regional gains remained somewhat limited on skepticism the U.S. and Iran were close to end of war talks.

Brent crude futures were up more than 4 percent above $100 a barrel in early Asian trade after plunging over 10 percent in the previous session. WTI crude futures edged up by 4.4 percent to $91.98 a barrel as Iran war concerns persist.

The dollar nursed steep losses against other major currencies while gold extended losses to trade below $4,350 an ounce on inflation and rate-hike jitters.

U.S. stocks rebounded overnight following President Trump's statement that the U.S. and Iran have had "very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East" and therefore he has instructed the military to postpone any strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.

However, Iran denied these talks had happened. "No negotiations have been held with the U.S., and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped," Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament wrote on X.

The Dow, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both rallied around 1.4 percent while the S&P 500 added 1.2 percent.

European stocks reversed early losses to close higher after the U.S. halted strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.6 percent. The German DAX surged 1.2 percent and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.8 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 percent.