West Asia conflict casts cloud over Indian stocks

Fear gauge rises after the Israel-Iran conflict stokes fears of supply disruptions

- Ram Sahgal

Israel and Iran have struck deep inside each other's territory in their worst direct conflict yet, threatening to inflame crude prices and rattle India's stock markets.

Based on NSE weekly options data on Friday, the benchmark Nifty could veer in a range of 24340-25060 this week, with a bias to the lower end of the range.

On Friday, the Nifty closed at 24718.60 points, clocking a 14% recovery from a multi-month low of 21743.65 on 7 April.

However, with oil surging by 7% on Friday and likely to rally more if the conflict escalates, markets could take a turn for the worse, analysts said. The Nifty could open a percent lower on Monday.

"Indian stock markets, like their global peers, will have to brace for a challenging week ahead as both sides are ratcheting up attacks on each other's territory, including on energy assets," said Dubai-based Shankar Sharma, founder of GQuant Investech. "Crude could surge more after Friday's rally if the hostilities intensify, hurting Indian stocks."