The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Monday, following a crash in global markets, as renewed conflict in the Middle East dampened hopes of an end to the wider US-Iran war.
Asian markets slipped, while the US stock market slumped, with the Nasdaq posting its largest one-day percentage loss since April 2025.
On Friday, the Indian stock market ended the volatile session lower after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised inflation forecast and slashed growth projections while maintaining the repo rate unchanged in its June monetary policy.
The Sensex declined 116.67 points, or 0.16%, to close at 74,243.34, while the Nifty 50 settled 49.85 points, or 0.21%, lower at 23,366.70.
“Indian equity markets are expected to remain range-bound this week amid a mix of domestic and global cues, Investors will closely monitor energy prices, the ongoing West Asia conflict, progress in monsoon, FIIs fund flows and the impact of RBI’s measures for further direction,” said Siddhartha Khemka – Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded lower on Monday amid escalating war in the Middle East and surging crude oil prices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 3.66%, while the Topix dropped 2.41%. South Korea’s Kospi crashed 8.4%, while the Kosdaq plunged over 7%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 23,096 level, a discount of nearly 356 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a gap-down start for the Indian stock market indices.
Wall Street
US stock market ended sharply lower on Friday, ending its nine-week winning streak, weighed down by a sharp slump in technology stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 695.15 points, or 1.35%, to 50,866.78, while the S&P 500 slipped 200.57 points, or 2.64%, to 7,383.74. The Nasdaq Composite closed 1,121.53 points, or 4.18%, lower at 25,709.43.
Nvidia stock price plunged 6.20%, AMD shares crashed 10.86%, Microsoft share price dropped 2.66%, Apple stock price fell 1.25%, Amazon shares slipped 3.06%, Meta shares shed 5.51%, and Tesla stock price tanked 6.56%. Intel, Micron, AMD and Broadcom slid between 7.9% and 13.3%.
US-Iran War
Iran launched missiles at Israel in the first such escalation since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April. Tehran had warned of retaliation after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs without warning earlier Sunday in defiance of the ceasefire agreement.
US Nonfarm Payrolls
The US economy posted a third straight month of strong job gains in May. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000 jobs last month after rising by an upwardly revised 179,000 in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls would increase by 85,000 jobs after a previously reported rise of 115,000 in April.
India GDP
India’s economy expanded 7.8% in the January-March quarter of FY26, exceeding forecasts on strong domestic demand and government expenditure. India’s GDP growth compared with 7% expansion a year back and 8% in the previous quarter. Full-year growth accelerated to 7.7% from 7.1% in FY25.
Japan GDP
Japan’s economy grew slower than initially estimated in the January-March quarter from the previous three months, Reuters reported. The economy expanded an annualised 1.8% in the first quarter, compared with the initially estimated 2.1%. Economists’ median forecast was for 1.3% growth. Without annualisation, GDP grew 0.5%, slightly better than the median forecast for a 0.3% expansion and matching the preliminary figure.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices rallied after Israel launched renewed strikes on Lebanon despite a truce between the two countries. US crude futures gained 2.32% to $92.64 per barrel, while Brent crude futures rose 2.5% to $95.42 a barrel.
Gold Rate Today
Gold prices traded lower after the war in the Middle East escalated, raising inflation concerns due to rising oil prices. Gold prices fell 0.1% to $4,325.18 an ounce, while silver price was 0.3% lower at $67.62 an ounce.
Dollar
The dollar was perched near a two-month high. Against the dollar, the euro fell to a two-month low of $1.1507, while sterling was at a three-week trough of $1.33165. The Japanese yen fetched 160.29 per dollar.
(With inputs from Agencies)