Indian stock markets opened strongly on Thursday, with the Sensex rising nearly 381 points to 78,339 and the Nifty 50 gaining around 68 points to 24,398. According to reports from The Economic Times, this marked the second consecutive session of gains amid rising hopes for a quicker end to the conflict between the US and Iran. The optimism was broad-based, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gaining over 0.5% each. However, latest market data shows GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded lower by 77 points, or 0.31% at 24,439, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Thursday.
The Nifty PSU Bank index led sectoral gains with a rise of more than 0.7%, as reported by The Economic Times. Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance, Trent, SBI, L&T and Asian Paints shares were the top gainers on the Sensex, rising over 1% each. However, sectoral performance remained mixed on Thursday, with auto, metal and mid-smallcap indices leading gains, reflecting selective buying interest. FMCG, IT and realty stocks traded under pressure, indicating profit booking in defensive and rate-sensitive pockets. Banking indices stayed largely muted, while pharma and healthcare showed mild strength. According to market data, around 1,886 stocks advanced on the NSE, while 340 declined and 116 remained unchanged.
The optimism was accompanied by a significant decline in market volatility, with India VIX, which measures volatility in markets, declining nearly 7% to 16.68. As reported by The Economic Times, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, noted that the market is swinging between hope and fear, responding to the ongoing political game in West Asia. He added that the market is rewarding good results and punishing poor results in the ongoing Q4 earnings season. However, latest market sentiment appeared cautiously positive amid broad-based but uneven sector participation, with overall sentiment showing selective buying interest across certain sectors.
Global markets provided strong support to the Indian rally, with Wall Street's Nasdaq jumping over 2% and the S&P 500 gaining more than 1% on Wednesday. According to The Economic Times, European indices closed up to 3% higher on Wednesday, while Japan's Nikkei rallied 6% on Thursday. However, foreign investors remained net sellers of Indian equities on Wednesday, selling shares worth ₹5,835 crore on a net basis. Japanese equities rallied after returning from a holiday break, helping push Asian markets to fresh record highs as investor sentiment improved on growing optimism that the US and Iran were nearing an agreement to end the conflict that had unsettled global markets.
