Indian Shares Seen Flat To Lower Amid US-Iran Talks Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening flat to slightly lower on Wednesday, with continued FII selling, geopolitical uncertainties in West Asia and Fed rate hike jitters likely to keep investors on edge.

American and Iranian official are in Qatar, but Iran said it would not meet with top U.S. envoys, raising fresh concerns over the fragile interim ceasefire between the two nations.

Renewed exchanges of fire over the weekend have also dampened expectations of a durable truce. It appears the two sides are far apart on key pillars of the initial framework they signed two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's power parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, vowed to block the ratification of a separate, controversial U.S.-mediated framework deal between Lebanon and Israel in parliament.

"Those who drafted this document will have to deal with me and a very large number of lawmakers", he warned, according to Press TV.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended Tuesday's session modestly lower, with information technology stocks leading losses ahead of the upcoming Q1 earnings season.

The rupee ended slightly lower at 94.66 per dollar but rose 0.3 percent on the month and about 0.2 percent over the course of the quarter ending June 30, logging its first quarter-on-quarter gain since March 2025 on the back of a sharp retreat in oil prices and recent measures to boost dollar inflows and stabilize the currency.

As India prepares to host Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in New Delhi this week, Nikkei Asia reported that India and Japan may advance plans for a local-currency settlement framework that would allow direct yen-rupee transactions for bilateral trade. It is believed the arrangement would help cut costs and speed up cross-border payments.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers of Indian equities and offloaded shares worth Rs 2,557 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the extent of Rs 6,842 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were mixed this morning as talks between the U.S. and Iran faced new hurdles, fueling inflation worries and increasing the likelihood of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes.

The yen hit a fresh 40-year low versus the dollar, keeping traders on high alert for possible currency intervention by authorities.

Gold was subdued at $3,980 an ounce while Brent crude steadied above $73 a barrel after posting its steepest quarterly decline since 2020.

U.S. stocks advanced overnight and capped their best quarter in six years as technology stocks extended their rebound on expectations for strong spending for artificial intelligence and easing inflation risks.

In economic releases, U.S. job openings edged up to a two-year high in May but subdued hiring soured consumers' perceptions of the labor market, data showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.5 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to post their best quarterly performance since 2020 on optimism over economic resilience and corporate earnings. The narrower Dow rose 0.3 percent to reach a new record closing high.

European stocks closed at record highs on Tuesday on the back of softer inflation data and hopes the European Central Bank will not hike interest rates anytime soon.

The pan-European STOXX 600 jumped 0.9 percent. The German DAX surged 1.5 percent, France's CAC 40 rose 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent.