Indian Shares Seen Lower As Hormuz Strait Blockade Continues

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening a tad lower on Tuesday as investors react to the latest developments in U.S.-Iran negotiations and await cues from a series of central bank meetings, including the Federal Reserve's policy decision on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his national security team on Monday discussed Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but it remains unclear whether Trump would accept the proposal.

Citing anonymous U.S. officials, ABC News reported that the deal fell short of Washington's red lines.

Meanwhile, in an escalation of its "maximum pressure" campaign, the Trump administration has warned foreign companies and governments of tough sanctions if they continue doing business with Iranian airlines.

The warning extends beyond direct trade to include any third-party facilitation of services. "Doing business with sanctioned Iranian airlines risks exposure to U.S. sanctions, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned in a post on X.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped around 0.8 percent each on Monday to snap their three-day losing streak on the back of positive cues from global markets.

The rupee settled 1 paise higher at 94.15 against the dollar as the RBI tightened its oversight on offshore rupee trades with new reporting rules.

Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 1,151 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the extent of Rs 4,124 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning, even as South Korea's Kospi average clinched another record high ahead of earnings from Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta this week.

The yen held steady ahead of the Bank of Japan's rate decision and gold was subdued at $4,677 an ounce, while Brent crude prices jumped above $109 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed, keeping global supply concerns intact.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending narrowly mixed overnight. A cautious undertone prevailed as U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled over the weekend and the focus shifted to upcoming earnings from the "Magnificent Seven" companies as well as key central bank meetings, including Jerome Powell's last meeting as head of the U.S. central bank.

The downside remained capped after Iran reportedly proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to reach new record closing highs, while the narrower Dow slipped 0.1 percent.

European stocks ended slightly lower on Monday due to uncertainty over stalled U.S.-Iran diplomacy to ease tensions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The pan-European STOXX 600 declined 0.3 percent. While the German DAX and France's CAC 40 both slid by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped 0.6 percent.