Sensex and Nifty opened higher on Wednesday following easing geopolitical tensions, with Sensex trading at 77,571.51, up 553.72 points or 0.72%, and Nifty at 24,206.65, up 173.85 points or 0.72% as of 9:16 AM. The rally came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that 'Operation Epic Fury is concluded,' signalling a potential de-escalation in the Middle East conflict that has rattled markets for weeks. According to ET Now, the positive sentiment was further boosted by Wall Street's record-setting session overnight, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.8%, Nasdaq rising 1%, and Dow Jones climbing 0.7% to fresh highs. Brent crude fell to around $108 per barrel, down 1.67%, while WTI crude slipped to $100.43, down 1.80%, providing additional relief to markets.
IndiGo parent InterGlobe Aviation (INDIGO) emerged as the top gainer on Nifty 50, rising 2.16% to ₹4,330.00 from a previous close of ₹4,238.40, with trading volume of 58,056 shares. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) climbed 2.06% to ₹3,276.80 against a previous close of ₹3,210.80, ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement with 4,02,541 shares changing hands worth ₹13,176.50 lakhs. Shriram Finance advanced 2.03% to ₹984.00 from ₹964.40, while Bajaj Finance rose 1.83% to ₹976.10 against a previous close of ₹958.60 on volumes of 2,68,683 shares valued at ₹2,613.13 lakhs. Tata Motors gained 1.76% to ₹346.15 against its previous close of ₹340.15.
Larsen & Toubro was the sharpest loser, falling 3.19% to ₹3,925.00 from a previous close of ₹4,054.50 on heavy volumes of 5,72,300 shares worth ₹22,526.93 lakhs, ahead of its results. ONGC slipped 0.36% to ₹288.90 from ₹289.95, while Hindustan Unilever edged down 0.11% to ₹2,324.90 against ₹2,327.40. Power Grid also dipped marginally by 0.11% to ₹319.10 from ₹319.45. According to ET Now, Reliance Industries also witnessed a 0.04% drop to ₹1,463.00 despite maintaining the highest trading volume of 1.61 lakh shares. Other notable decliners included Eternal Ltd which fell 1.42% to ₹251.99 with 1.44 lakh shares traded, and Bajaj Auto Ltd which declined 1.33% to ₹10,180.00.
The market performance reflected a mixed sentiment with InterGlobe Aviation leading the aviation sector gains, while Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries faced pressure. According to ET Now, the data on today's top gainers and losers offers valuable insights into investor trends and sectoral performance. GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,318, up around 208 points ahead of the open, signalling strong early momentum. Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, cautioned investors to read the ceasefire news carefully, noting that Nifty is now trading around 20 times TTM earnings while Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indexes are trading at 35 times and 30 times respectively. He flagged a divergence in the market and suggested that when the AI trade ends and FIIs stop selling/start buying in India, largecaps will outperform.
