Indian stock markets surged on Wednesday with Sensex gaining over 1,200 points to trade above 78,000 level and Nifty 50 rising over 350 points to top 24,200 level, as reported by The Economic Times. The sharp gains added more than ₹7.5 lakh crore to the total market capitalisation of all companies listed on BSE, pulling it up to nearly ₹457 lakh crore in early trading hours. All constituents of Sensex traded in the green with IndiGo, UltraTech Cement, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv jumping 2-4% to emerge as top gainers. The renewed optimism was broad-based with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 rallying more than 2% each, while India VIX, which measures volatility, tumbled 11% to 18 levels in the morning session.
Renewed hopes for fresh Iran-US peace talks emerged as a key driver of Wednesday's market rally, according to The Economic Times. Pakistani officials cited by the Associated Press indicated on Tuesday that Islamabad has proposed a second round of talks to the United States and Iran, while US Vice President JD Vance earlier said negotiations with Iran "did make some progress" and US President Donald Trump said earlier "we've been called by the other side" and "they want to work a deal." Trump hinted at the second round talks saying Iran talks "could be happening over next two days" in Pakistan, as quoted by Reuters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X late on Tuesday to say that he received a call from US President Donald Trump, writing that they reviewed the substantial progress achieved in bilateral cooperation and are committed to further strengthening their Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
Hindustan Copper shares rallied 7% to ₹565.00 on the BSE on Wednesday, riding a sharp rebound in global copper prices that are hovering near a six-week high as hopes of a de-escalation in the Middle East conflict sent the red metal surging, erasing all losses sustained since the war began more than six weeks ago. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2.16% to 102,880 yuan ($15,090.35) per metric ton as of 0222 GMT, touching its strongest level since March 3 at 103,130 yuan earlier in the session. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.56% at $13,358.5 per ton after hitting its highest since March 2 at $13,392.5 earlier. All of the big trends that have been pushing copper higher are now going to be supercharged as per Henry Van, analyst at Trafigura Group, who noted there is a bigger incentive than ever before to do more electrification and insulate energy consumption from geopolitical shocks.
Oil prices remained below the crucial $100 per barrel mark with Brent crude futures trading near $95 per barrel and WTI Crude futures at $91 per barrel, as reported by The Economic Times. This provided significant relief after oil prices crossed the $100 mark in March following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, Indian rupee opened 0.2% higher at 93.17 against the US dollar compared to the previous close of 93.2750, with Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities expecting the rupee to trade in a range of 92.75–94.00 in the current session. US bond yields declined amid the renewed optimism with the yield on benchmark US 10-year notes dropping to 4.248% and 30-year bond yield falling to 4.857%, while the 2-year note yield fell to 3.749%.
Global markets rallied in unison with Japan's Nikkei jumping more than 1% nearing its record high of 59,332 which it had hit in late February, as reported by The Economic Times. South Korea's Kospi surged nearly 3% on Wednesday morning, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained more than 1%. China's Shanghai Composite was in the green with marginal gains. Wall Street and European markets had closed in the deep green yesterday with tech-heavy Nasdaq jumping nearly 2% while S&P 500 gained more than 1% in the US, while in Europe, Germany's DAX and France's CAC gained more than 1% each. This coordinated global rally provided additional support to Indian markets amid the positive sentiment around renewed peace talks.
According to rating agency CRISIL, soft drink bottlers are likely to witness a revenue rebound to their long-term average growth of 15% this fiscal year, as reported by Upstox. The summer months account for almost 40% of the overall sales of beverage makers, but the last fiscal year was not favorable due to unseasonal rains. CRISIL expects IMD predictions of above-normal temperatures during summer, along with the possibility of El Niño, which usually prolongs the summer months, to boost consumption. The positive market sentiment on Wednesday, April 15, reinforces expectations for improved beverage consumption during the upcoming summer season, with all sectoral indices on NSE opening in the green and Nifty PSU Bank rallying around 3% to lead gains.
