Overview
- Indian equities opened lower as Brent crude hovered near $114 a barrel following fresh US–Iran strains, with the Sensex dropping about 500 points at the open and the Nifty slipping before trading near 23,949.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it fired missiles at a US warship and the UAE accused Tehran of a drone strike on an oil tanker, heightening risk at the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow route that carries a large share of the world’s seaborne oil.
- Analysts say near‑term direction now rests on state election results, swings in crude, and the next batch of March‑quarter earnings from Ambuja Cements, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, M&M and Bajaj Auto.
- Market moves have split by stock, with Reliance up about 9% over four sessions as ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank lost value, and small caps such as AVI Polymers and Magnus Steel & Infra hitting upper circuits after a promoter buy plan and a ₹45 crore fundraising approval.
- Axis Mutual Fund opened an Axis Nifty Capital Markets Index Fund NFO on May 4 that runs through May 15, tracking the Nifty Capital Markets Total Return Index under managers Nandik Mallik and Rohit Gautam.