Dalal Street set to open lower amid sharp decline in GIFT Nifty

Domestic equities remained under pressure on Monday following weakness witnessed on Friday, with the Nifty declining 0.7%, while the midcap and smallcap indices corrected. Analysts say Indian equities are expected to remain range-bound with a marginal negative bias in the near term amid persistent Foreign Institutional Investor selling and ongoing uncertainty around global macro developments. With the Q4FY26 earnings season largely concluded and broader markets reporting stronger earnings growth, focus is likely to remain on stock-specific opportunities in the midcap space.

STATE OF THE MARKETS
GIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a negative start
GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded lower by 170 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 23,296, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Tuesday.

• Tech View: The previous swing low at 23,262 is expected to act as an immediate support level. A decisive breach below this mark could accelerate selling pressure and drag the index towards the 23,150 zone.
• India VIX: India VIX, which is a measure of the fear in the markets, rose 2.2% to settle at 16.54 levels.

Asian shares ease
Asian shares retreated from record highs as efforts to secure a US-Iran peace deal showed little progress and investors paused after a blistering AI-driven rally.

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% as of 9:45 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures fell 0.1%
• Japan’s Topix fell 1.1%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.1%

US Stocks end higher
Wall Street stocks posted modest gains on Monday as investors watched developments in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and cheered the unveiling of a new computer chip that promises to bring artificial intelligence to personal computing.

Oil steadies
Oil prices held on to most of the previous session's sharp gains in early trade on Tuesday on uncertainty over the status of ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran and the potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Gold up
Gold prices were steady on Tuesday, as investors parsed a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel and awaited further details on U.S.-Iran negotiations amid growing concerns around inflation and interest rate hikes.

Dollar gains
The U.S. dollar steadied on Tuesday as markets took a wait-and-see approach to Middle East peace talks, with Lebanon announcing a limited ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, although broader geopolitical uncertainties kept traders on edge.

Stocks in F&O ban today

NIL

Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

Rupee
The rupee depreciated 10 paise to close at 94.95 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, amid renewed geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran and surge in crude oil prices. Forex traders said the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and Israel-Lebanon tensions also deteriorated global risk sentiments.

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