GIFT Nifty jumps 110 points on Iran-US peace talk hopes; Nifty seen reclaiming 24K on Monday

GIFT Nifty rose 0.5% or 110 points to 24,063 on Friday following media reports suggesting that peace talks between Iran and the United States could resume soon in Pakistan. Any positive development is likely to help Nifty reclaim the 24K mark when trading resumes on Monday.

Citing sources, Reuters today reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night, giving fresh hopes for a likely restart of truce talks between the warring factions. Two sources from the Pakistani government said a U.S. logistics and security team was already in place for potential talks.

Earlier today, Indian equity benchmarks closed deep in the red, dragged lower by broad-based selling across sectors, with IT stocks leading the decline after the sector index tumbled over 5%. Losses were also pronounced in pharma, healthcare and energy names. The Nifty 50 dropped 275.10 points (1.14%) to settle at 23,897.95, while the BSE Sensex slumped 999.79 points (1.29%) to close at 76,664.21.

An agreement between Iran and the US could lend fresh impetus to global markets including India, which has been under pressure because Q4 earnings failed to enthuse D-Street participants.

Action was mixed in Asian markets as Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times and China’s Shanghai composite also ended lower on Friday. The action remained strong in Japanese market as Nikkei 225 settled 1% higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index finished with gains of 0.25%.

Most major European indices traded in the red today around 1:55 p.m. BST (6:40 pm India time). UK’s FTSE 100, Stoxx 600, Spain’s IBEX 35, Germany’s Dax and French CAC were trading with cuts up to 1.23% around this time.

There was no immediate direct response from Washington or Tehran to the report, but ‌U.S. Defense ⁠Secretary Pete ⁠Hegseth, speaking around the same time, told a briefing that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal” with the United States.The last round of peace talks had been expected on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never leaving Washington.

President Donald Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday at the 11th hour to allow ⁠more time ‌to reconvene the negotiators.

The war started on February 28 after Israel attacked Iran and killed its top leadership.

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)