Sensex, Nifty 50 set to open lower today as Iran war drags on

Indian shares are on course to open lower on Friday, tracking global stocks and elevated Brent crude prices, as hopes for a resolution to the Iran war have ebbed.

The National Stock Exchange building in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. (Livemint)

U.S. President Donald Trump said he will extend a pause on attacks against Iran's energy plants into April and that talks with Iran were going "very well," but an Iranian official said a U.S. proposal for ending the war as "one-sided and unfair."

GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 23,144, as of 8:01 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 may open below Wednesday's close of 23,306.45 points. Indian financial markets were closed on Thursday.

Asian shares fell 1.2%, while Wall Street equities slid, with the Nasdaq Composite confirming a correction. Oil hovered around $106 per barrel.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex have lost about 7.4% each since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, as elevated crude prices and energy-supply concerns cloud the economic outlook in Asia's third-largest economy and trigger foreign selling.

India's federal government on Wednesday retained its retail inflation target at 4%, within a comfort ​band of 2%-6%. Price pressures are currently low, with consumer price inflation ⁠at 2.75% in February, but a surge in global oil prices and supply disruptions due ​to the Iran war are expected to push up inflation above 4% in the financial year beginning ​April.

Foreign portfolio investors have offloaded Indian stocks worth $12.14 billion in March so far, on course for record monthly outflows, dragging the rupee to all-time lows.

The heaviest stock on the benchmarks, HDFC Bank, will stay in focus as the markets regulator has begun a preliminary review of the resignation letter of part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty, who abruptly resigned on March 18, for possible violations of rules governing directors of listed companies, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Shares of the bank fell 11.7% in three sessions after the Chakraborty resigned, but have risen 5.1% over the last two trading sessions.

The resignation stemmed from a power struggle with chief executive Sashidhar Jagdishan, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources.