GIFT NIFTY SUGGESTS NEGATIVE START FOR EQUITIES

GIFT Nifty:

The GIFT Nifty April 2026 futures currently traded 37.50 points lower, suggesting a red opening for the benchmark index today.

Institutional Flows:

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 382.36 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 3,427.75 crore in the Indian equity market on 16 April 2026, provisional data showed.

The FIIs had sold shares worth Rs 39,907.30 crore in April (till 16 April 2026). This follows their cash sales of Rs 122,540.41 crore in March, Rs 6,640.78 crore in February and Rs 41,435.22 crore in January 2026.

Global Markets:

Asia markets traded lower Friday, as cautious optimism over the Middle East conflict tempered sentiment, diverging from Wall Street�s record-setting rally.

The U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that the war in Iran �should be ending pretty soon,� reiterating rosy predictions about the end of the conflict.

Hours earlier, Trump confirmed that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. Iran�s parliament speaker has said that Israel halting attacks on Lebanon is a key condition for U.S.-Iran negotiations to start.

The next round of in-person talks between the U.S. and Iran may occur �probably, maybe, next weekend,� Trump reportedly said on Thursday. A two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will expire on April 21.

Meanwhile, Japan�s export credit agency, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, will set up an investment window of up to 600 billion yen ($3.8 billion) to help Asian countries secure energy supplies, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh all-time highs on Thursday, adding to their strong gains this week on optimism for a possible resolution to the Iran war.

The broad market index gained 0.26% to close at 7,041.28, while the Nasdaq gained 0.36% to settle at 24,102.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115 points, or 0.24%, and ended at 48,578.72.

Stocks have risen in recent days on hopes for an eventual peace deal between the two nations. The S&P 500 kicked off the week by wiping out all of its losses since the beginning of the Iran war.

Even if a U.S.-Iran peace deal were to come to fruition in the near term like investors anticipate, there could still be some market volatility approaching due to the war�s potential impact on the U.S. economy.

Domestic Market:

The headline equity indices erased early gains to end marginally lower in a volatile session on Thursday. Tracking positive global cues, the markets opened higher on optimism around a potential US-Iran peace deal and held gains in the first half.

However, selling pressure in the latter half wiped out intraday advances, pulling the Nifty 50 below the 24,200 mark. Private banks and auto stocks led the decline, while metal and IT shares provided some support.

Volatility remained elevated due to the weekly expiry of Sensex derivatives and the ongoing Q4 earnings season, with investors closely monitoring signs of de-escalation between the United States and Iran.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 122.56 points or 0.16% to 77,988.68. The Nifty 50 index fell 34.55 points or 0.14% to 24,196.75.