GIFT Nifty surged 85 points to 24,063 on Friday following media reports suggesting that peace talks between Iran and the United States could resume soon in Pakistan. According to reports from The Economic Times, 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 confirmed that a U.S. logistics and security team was already in place for potential talks. The optimism comes after Indian equity benchmarks closed deep in the red on Thursday, with the Nifty 50 dropping 275.10 points (1.14%) to settle at 23,897.95 and the BSE Sensex slumping 999.79 points (1.29%) to close at 76,664.21.
The previous session's decline was primarily driven by broad-based selling across sectors, with IT stocks leading the decline after the sector index tumbled over 5%. As reported by The Economic Times, losses were also pronounced in pharma, healthcare and energy names. The IT sector decline was particularly significant, contributing to the overall market weakness that had persisted through Thursday's trading session. The sector's poor performance had been a key factor in dragging down the broader market indices, with technology stocks facing particular selling pressure.
According to The Economic Times, action remained mixed in Asian markets as Singapore's FTSE Straits Times and China's Shanghai composite also ended lower on Friday. However, the Japanese market showed strength with Nikkei 225 settling 1% higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished with gains of 0.25%. In European markets, most major indices traded in the red around 1:55 p.m. BST (6:40 pm India time), with UK's FTSE 100, Stoxx 600, Spain's IBEX 35, Germany's Dax and French CAC trading with cuts up to 1.23%.
As reported by The Economic Times, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a briefing that Iran had a chance to make a 'good deal' with the United States around the same time as the peace talks reports emerged. 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 between the two countries had started on February 28 after Israel attacked Iran and killed its top leadership.
According to The Economic Times, 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. The GIFT Nifty's 85-point surge signals a potential rebound in Indian markets and helps Nifty aim to cross the 24K mark when trading resumes on Monday. The positive global cues from potential Iran-US peace developments could provide the necessary momentum for Indian markets to recover from recent declines driven by IT-led selling pressure.
