GIFT Nifty indicates gap down opening for equities as US-Iran tensions escalate
GIFT Nifty:
GIFT Nifty March 2026 futures were down 216.50 points, suggesting a gap down opening for the Nifty 50 today.
Institutional Flows:
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 7,536.36 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 12,292.81 crore in the Indian equity market on 27 February 2026, provisional data showed.
The FIIs have sold shares worth Rs 11,002.35 crore in the cash market in February. This follows their cash sales of Rs 41,435.22 crore in January 2026 and Rs 34,349.62 crore in December.
Global Markets:
Asian markets traded lower on Monday after the United States and Israel launch their most ambitious attacks on Iran in decades, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. and Israeli strikes, and the Iranian retaliation, have sent shockwaves across the Middle East, and through sectors from shipping to air travel to oil on warnings of rising energy costs and disruption to business in the Gulf, a strategic waterway and global trade hub.
Most Gulf equities fell on Sunday though Boursa Kuwait suspended trading and the UAE ordered its stock markets closed on Monday, a sign of the growing economic disruption sweeping the Gulf.
Oil futures initially jumped 8% before trimming gains to about 4%. West Texas Intermediate futures last traded at $69.68, while Brent crude was at $76.13 per barrel. Gold futures jumped 2.3% as investors piled into the global safe haven.
Stock futures tumbled in overnight trading after the weekend strikes in Iran. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 517 points, or 1%. S&P 500 futures lost 1% and Nasdaq 100 futures declined a little more than 1%.
On Friday, stocks saw sharp sell off after the latest producer price index data came in much hotter than expected, adding sticky inflation to a list of concerns that has caused market turbulence this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 521.28 points, or 1.05%, to close at 48,977.92. The S&P 500 closed down 0.43% at 6,878.88, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.92% to settle at 22,668.21.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished in the red for February amid growing fears about the impact of artificial intelligence on specific industries and the overall economy.
Fueling the downbeat sentiment, January?s producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation, showed a 0.5% increase for the month. Media reports had suggested that the headline reading could come in at 0.3%. The core PPI reading, which excludes food and energy prices, recorded a 0.8% gain, much more than the 0.3% rise that was widely reported in the media.
Domestic Market:
Domestic equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Friday, pressured by continued foreign institutional investor outflows and escalating geopolitical tensions. Investor sentiment remained fragile amid rising hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan and lingering uncertainty over US-Iran talks.
The Nifty slipped below the 25,200 mark, weighed down by losses in auto and FMCG stocks. The index opened on a weak note and stayed under sustained selling pressure through most of the session. A fresh wave of selling in the final hours intensified the decline, pulling the benchmark closer to the day?s low by the closing bell.
The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 961.42 points or 1.17% to 81,287.19. The Nifty 50 index dropped 317.90 points or 1.25% to 25,178.65.
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