The Indian benchmark indices closed Monday's session with healthy gains, with the Nifty 50 ending 0.35% higher at 24,104 and the BSE Sensex closing 0.46% up at 77,154. According to latest reports, the Nifty 50 held above the 24,000 mark for the fourth consecutive session, while the broader market tone remained firm. The positive momentum was driven by progress in US-Iran peace talks, strong buying in pharmaceutical stocks, and a sharp recovery in domestic technology shares that helped the benchmark indices recover a portion of Friday's losses. Broader markets also finished in positive territory, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices ending higher, indicating wider participation from investors.
Reliance Industries Ltd. emerged as a key mover with shares rising nearly 3% in early trade and remaining up more than 2% by midday after Jio Platforms filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI. As reported by The Financial Express, the proposed public issue involves a fresh issue of 27 crore shares and could raise around ₹37,700 crore. Mukesh Ambani described the Jio listing as the most important value-creation milestone of the year, with the process being led by Akash, Isha and Anant Ambani. The market reaction suggests investors view the listing as a potential catalyst for cleaner valuations on Reliance's telecom, digital services and enterprise technology assets.
Kirloskar Oil Engines surged 18% in early trade after announcing a 192 MW power systems order from HyperNext for hyperscale data centre solutions, with the stock hitting its upper circuit and 52-week high of ₹2,389.80. Voltas Ltd. jumped as much as 5% to ₹1,411.90 after the room air-conditioner maker announced crossing the milestone of selling one million units within the first three months of FY27. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Media led the gains with a 1.42% rise, followed by Nifty Pharma, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty IT, and Nifty Metal, which advanced between 0.5% and 1.4%. Power Mech Projects climbed over 3.5% in early trade after securing an order worth ₹1,008.90 crore from JSW Thermal Energy Ltd.
Bharat Forge touched its 52-week high of ₹2,062 and was up around 0.5% by midday after its ₹425 crore contract with the Ministry of Defence continued to support sentiment. The order involves gas turbine generators for the Indian Navy's Kolkata-class ships, marking Bharat Forge's entry into marine gas turbine generator business under the Buy (Indian) category. Tata Motors rose as much as 2% to ₹410.45 after securing more than 3,400 electric commercial vehicle orders across segments, including nearly 2,000 small commercial vehicles, around 900 trucks and close to 500 buses. The orders span e-commerce, logistics, FMCG distribution and various industrial applications.
Crude oil prices retreated following reports that the US and Iran had agreed on a roadmap aimed at reaching a final peace agreement within 60 days. According to mediators Qatar and Pakistan, "encouraging progress has been made, including the creation of a mechanism for further technical talks" in their joint statement. The proposed framework includes the formation of a committee and a mechanism to help end hostilities in Lebanon. However, the conflict in Lebanon remains one of the key sticking points, with the latest developments following a mixed start to the talks on Sunday after media reports suggested Iran had paused discussions following renewed warnings from US President Donald Trump of potential military action.
