Indian stocks brace for Israel-Hamas war impact

Any escalation of the conflict could fuel surge in crude oil prices, affecting India

- Ram Sahgal

Indian stocks may open lower on Monday, in line with other global stock indices, in response to the Israel-Hamas war that erupted early Saturday, fund managers said.

While they expect no immediate cause for panic, they are closely monitoring the evolving situation as any widening of the war could profoundly impact Indian stocks because of a surge in oil prices, and heightened volatility in rupee and bond yields.

Israel’s benchmark TA-35 Index, tracking 35 top companies on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which runs from Sunday through Thursday, plunged 6.47% on Sunday. Indian benchmarks Nifty and Sensex on Friday traded around 3% below their mid-September record highs, while small- and mid-cap benchmarks ruled 2-3.5% below their highs amid selling by foreign institutional investors.

“It’s an evolving situation that we need to gauge for a couple of days before taking any decision," said Samir Arora, founder and fund manager of Helios Capital Management. “I don’t think there’s any cause for panic yet, though we might see a knee-jerk gap-down opening, in sync with other markets. It’s better not to pre-empt but to react."