Benchmark indices rose 1.3% on Friday snapping a three-day losing streak as crude oil prices fell up to 3.5% after US President Donald Trump signalled that a decision on potential strikes against Iran would be made within two weeks, easing fears of an imminent military escalation.
Amid a mixed trend in other Asian markets, the Sensex surged 1,046.30 points or 1.29% to close at 82,408.17, while the Nifty jumped 319.15 points or 1.29% to end above the 25,000-mark at 25,112.40. Brent crude declined by up to 3.5% to $76.10 per barrel on Friday, after having breached the $79 mark in the previous session amid heightened Iran-Israel tensions.
The broader indices also advanced with the BSE Midcap rising 1.20% and the BSE Smallcap gaining 0.55%. Investors’ wealth increased by Rs 4.9 lakh crore, pushing the total BSE market capitalisation to Rs 447.7 lakh crore.
“Market sentiment experienced a pronounced bullish shift following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would determine within the next two weeks whether the United States would intervene in the Iran-Israel conflict. This geopolitical development provided the catalyst for renewed investor confidence,” said Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities.
“After a choppy week marked by global uncertainty and geopolitical noise, Indian markets ended on a high. Despite the volatility throughout the week, both indices managed to log gains, with buying interest returning in large-cap names,” said Vikram Kasat, Head – Advisory, PL Capital. He added that the session saw a broad-based rebound, driven by easing crude prices, continued FII inflows, and a softening dollar index, giving bulls the upper hand.
Market breadth remained positive with 2,463 gainers against 1,486 losers on the BSE. All sectoral indices on the BSE and NSE ended in the green. Telecom, realty, utilities, power and TECK were the top sectoral performers, rising up to 2.73%.
During the session, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 7,940.70 crore while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 3,049.88 crore, as per provisional data by the BSE.
The NSE India VIX dropped 4.08% to 13.67 during the day, indicating cooling market volatility.
Barring Maruti Suzuki (down 0.02%), all Sensex constituents ended in the green. Bharti Airtel, M&M, Power Grid, Reliance Industries, and Nestle India were the top gainers, advancing up to 3.27%. HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel jointly accounted for nearly half of the Sensex’s 1,046-point gain.
Shares of financial institutions such as PFC and HUDCO also rose in response to RBI’s revised norms to provide a harmonised framework for financing of projects in infrastructure and non-infrastructure sectors by banks, NBFCs and other regulated entities.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex and Nifty rose 1.59% each, while the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices declined by 0.44% and 1.86%, respectively.