(Corrects Gift Nifty levels to 25,132 from 24,132 in paragraph 2)<\/p>\n
March 2 (Reuters) – India’s benchmark indexes are poised to open lower on Monday as escalating Middle East tensions pushed \u200ccrude prices higher and triggered a flight to safe havens, weighing on overall market sentiment.<\/p>\n
The \u200cGift Nifty futures were trading at 25,132 points, as of 6:50 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will open below \u200bFriday’s close of 25,178.65.<\/p>\n
Oil prices surged more than 7% on Monday to their highest level in months as escalating Iran\u2013Israel hostilities stoked concerns about supply disruptions from the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Brent crude futures climbed to about $82.40 a barrel, their highest in 14 months, in the first trading after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran over the \u200cweekend killed Tehran’s Supreme Leader Ali \u2060Khamenei, jolting markets and deepening uncertainty for the global economy.<\/p>\n
Tehran said it has closed navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20% of global oil \u2060flows and over 40% of India’s crude imports transit, prompting governments and refiners to assess oil stockpiles. [O\/R]<\/p>\n
“Markets are likely to move from earnings-driven to oil-driven trading in the near term as crude remains the key macro variable \u200bfor \u200bIndian equities under the current escalation scenario,” said analysts \u200bled by Venkatesh Balasubramaniam of JM Financial.<\/p>\n
“Domestic \u200cequities are likely to see a negative opening with elevated volatility amid global risk off sentiment as higher crude increases inflation risk and higher inflation pushes bond yields and compresses equity multiples.”<\/p>\n
Other Asian markets opened 1.1% lower on the day. [MKTS\/GLOB]<\/p>\n