Indian shares end muted on Mideast uncertainty

Indian shares closed near unchanged on Thursday, with global Mideast peace negotiations failing to boost sentiment despite easing concerns over U.S. rate hikes and strong company earnings. High oil prices and the ongoing Iran-U.S. standoff, which has yet to reach a permanent peace deal, dampened investor confidence in India's third-largest economy.

The Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex indexes finished the day with modest declines, 0.16% and 0.15%, respectively, at 24,395.85 and 78,079.96 points. Before the market closed, the indexes had seen more pronounced swings due to the expiry of weekly derivatives. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of HST Wealth, noted that heightened oil prices and potential margin pressures from upcoming RBI loan-pricing rules kept traders cautious, even with a generally favorable backdrop.

Financials and banks saw a decline of 0.4% each, as higher funding costs may impact their earnings visibility. Tata Group shares stabilized after a loss of $4.6 billion on Wednesday, as investors waited to see who would succeed N. Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman. Ten of the 16 major sectors dropped on the day, while small and mid-cap shares saw a slight gain.

Among the notable exceptions, Tata Motors rose 3.9% after posting higher quarterly earnings and predicting strong demand.