Indian Stock Market Braces for Volatility Amid Ongoing Middle East Conflict

The Indian stock market suffered losses last week, with Nifty closing in the red for the seventh consecutive week due to soaring bond yields and a sharp selloff in insurance and financial stocks after IRDAI's reform proposals. Oil prices have been rattling global markets since the Middle East conflict began earlier this year.

Volatile crude and bond yields at elevated levels kept the market recovery capped, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments. Selective bargain hunting after the recent pullback helped the market retain a positive bias, though gains remained confined to a narrow trading range. The ability of benchmark indices to sustain above the psychologically important 23,000 level reflects domestic resilience and support from strong domestic liquidity.

Nifty closed higher on Friday, recovering modestly after the sharp decline in the previous session, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. Technically, the index continues to form lower highs and lower lows and remains below its key moving averages, keeping the short-term structure weak.