Equities Retreat Under Geopolitical Strain as Crude Spikes

U.S. markets closed lower overnight, with the S&P 500 falling 0.58% to 7,673.52, the Nasdaq dropping 0.32% to 26,421.41, and the Dow Jones declining 1.18% (-628 points) to 52,786.07. Investors reacted to escalating Middle East military conflicts and fresh trade tariff actions, while comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on the terminal path of quantitative tightening and the interest rate trajectory also remained in focus.

Asian markets opened mixed to lower, with Japan and Australia tracking overnight developments. Japan reported a 1.6% rise in Q2 capital spending and August manufacturing PMI at 54.9, while Australia released Q2 GDP expanding 0.4% QoQ (2.1% YoY) and markets reacted to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s hawkish stance amid persistent wage resilience.

Crude oil is trading near $99.30, while gold is near $4,377/oz and silver around $66.20/oz. Commodity prices are being influenced by heightened supply disruption risks in the Persian Gulf and safe-haven demand against a steady U.S. dollar.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield is at 4.79%, while the 2-year yield stands at 4.41%. The DXY is trading near 98.77, with EUR/USD at 1.1629, GBP/USD at 1.3544, and AUD/USD at 0.7220.

GIFT Nifty is trading around 23,642, indicating a negative opening for Indian equities compared with the previous Nifty close of 23,635.

USD/INR NDF level is near 94.8175.