



Nifty may face hurdle at 24,000 amid Iran war peace talks, options signal volatility
Strait of Hormuz."The war will be over only when Israel wants it to be over and so it will continue in some form or shape and keep crude elevated," said the UAE-based ace investor Shankar Sharma. "The Indian market is going to be in a troublesome situation and returns at the portfolio level will remain muted as they have been for the past couple of years."Brent crude has risen 33% since the outbreak of the war on 28 February, reaching $96.62 a barrel on Thursday.
Over the same period, the Nifty has fallen nearly 6% through Thursday’s close.The Nifty hit a 52-week low of 22,182.55 last Thursday amid fears of escalation but has since recovered on hopes of a lasting resolution — a prospect that currently appears shaky due to disagreements over ceasefire terms."I don't think the war is over yet and market volatility could persist, but I don't think we will revisit last week's low unless the situation worsens from hereon," said Swarup Mohanty, vice chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Pvt Ltd."I will wait and see how the ceasefire unravels, use dips to buy and remain fully invested," he added."The uncertainty over the truce implies that that the Nifty could fill the gap between Tuesday's high of 23,153.85 and Thursday's low of 23,682.8," said Sahaj Agrawal, senior vice president (research), Kotak Securities."Uncertainty could push the index to fill the gap at 25153.85. Also, in the face of Wednesday's huge rebound, FPIs continued to remain net sellers in cash, showing that they are still in two minds."Despite Wednesday's sharp rebound, foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers of ₹1335.53 crore in cash, according to depository data.
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