Indian Shares Seen Lower As Trump Rejects Iran's Response To Peace Deal

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a sluggish note on Monday as focus shifts to escalating U.S-Iran tensions and surging crude oil prices.

Brent crude futures jumped more than 3 percent toward $105 a barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran rejected each other's latest peace proposals to end the war in the Middle East, keeping the Strait of Hormuz largely closed and raising doubts about the durability of a fragile ceasefire.

Iran has delivered its response to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal, which is understood to include ending the conflict, opening the Strait of Hormuz and rolling back Iran's nuclear program.

Tehran has reportedly called for a broader settlement that includes ending hostilities on multiple fronts, including Lebanon, and ensuring the security of maritime trade routes.

The country wants talks to focus on a permanent end to the war rather than a temporary ceasefire.

Iran "has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years," Trump wrote on Truth Social and later called the response from Iran's so-called 'Representatives' "totally unacceptable."

Asian markets were mixed this morning and U.S. stock futures wobbled, while the dollar climbed as the conflict in the Middle East entered its 11th week.

The focus also shifted to an upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the Fed's leadership transition and U.S. inflation data. Gold traded below $4,700 an ounce on worries about oil-driven inflation.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday on the back of upbeat jobs data and strength in Nvidia, SanDisk and other AI-related stocks.

Data showed non-farm payroll employment shot up by 115,000 jobs in April, while analysts had expected an increase of 63,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged for some time.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent to notch record closing highs while the narrower Dow finished marginally higher.

European stocks ended lower on Friday after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Trump threatened "much higher" tariffs against the EU.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he will not step down after hits Labor Party suffered major losses in local elections.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.7 percent. The German DAX dropped 1.3 percent, France's CAC 40 lost 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.4 percent.