SENSEX, NIFTY50 surge 3.5% in two sessions on hopes of de-escalation of conflict in Middle East

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a second straight session on Wednesday, March 25, mirroring gains in global markets as sentiment turned positive after crude oil dropped below $95 a barrel in international markets on expectations of de-escalation of conflict in the Middle East, analysts said.

In intraday deals, the SENSEX rose as much as 1,781 points and NIFTY50 index touched a high of 23,465. In the last two trading session, the SENSEX has surged a whopping 3.55% and NIFTY50 index has climbed 3.53%.

The SENSEX ended 1,205 points or 1.63% higher at 75,273 and NIFTY50 index climbed 394 points or 1.72% to close at 23,306.

Markets across the world jumped after the Trump administration offered a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran. The development led to sharp fall in crude and gave a sigh of relief to equity market participants who were concerned that fears of spiralling inflation might hurt corporate earnings going ahead.

Brent Crude oil dropped as much as 6.7% to hit an intraday low of $93.45 per barrel.

Japan Nikkei ended 2.82% higher, China's Shanghai composite advanced 1.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.09% and South Korea's KOSPI climbed 1.6%.

European markets were also trading higher as Germany's DAC rose 1.55%, England's FTSE100 index gained 1.12% and French CAC40 index advanced 1.5%.

Back home, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were top movers in the SENSEX, they collectively contributed nearly 800 points towards gain in the SENSEX, data from BSE showed.

Buying was visible across board as all major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Consumer Durables index's 3.5% gain.

NIFTY Bank, Auto, Financial Services, Realty, Healthcare, Private Bank, PSU Bank, Pharma and FMCG indices also rose between 1.8% and 2.7%.

Broader markets also witnessed buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 2.3% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index climbed 2.6%.

Among the individual shares, Brigade Enterprises rose as much as 4.63% to hit an intraday high of ₹675.30 after it launched a new residential project in East Bengaluru.

Titan was among the top gainers in the NIFTY50 index, the stock ended 4.6% higher at ₹4,080 after international gold prices rose over 4%, supported by a drop in oil prices and a weaker US dollar. Gold had come under heavy selling pressure in the last few trading sessions as rising oil prices and bond yields fuelled inflation fears and strengthened the dollar, triggering a broad selloff in precious metals.

Shriram Finance, Grasim, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Trent, Adani Enterprises and InterGlobe Aviation also rose between 3.2% and 5.8%.

On the flipside, Tech Mahindra, Power grid, Tata Consultancy Services and Bharat Electronics were notable losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,426 shared ended higher while 855 closed lower on the NSE.