Mumbai, April 8: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged nearly 4% on Wednesday, propelled by a global market rally and a sharp fall in crude oil after the US and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire. The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the policy repo rate unchanged, heavy buying across sectors and a firmer rupee also boosted investor sentiment.
Rallying for a fifth straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 2,946.32 points (3.95%) to settle at 77,562.90, recording its best trading day in five years; it rose as much as 3,018.96 points (4%) intraday to 77,635.54. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 873.70 points (3.78%) to finish at 23,997.35, marking its biggest single-day gain in 11 months, and hit 24,025.15 intraday.
Market breadth was strongly positive on the BSE with 3,859 advancing stocks, 537 declining and 101 unchanged. Among Sensex constituents, InterGlobe Aviation led gains with an 8.22% jump. Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Maruti were also notable winners, while Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Power Grid lagged.
All sectoral indices ended higher, led by realty (up 6.76%) and autos (6.55%). BSE PSU Bank rose 5.79%, Bankex 5.72%, private banks 5.62% and financial services 5.48%. Services, consumer discretionary and industrials gained 5.22%, 5.11% and 4.87% respectively. The BSE MidCap Select index jumped 4.93% and the SmallCap Select index rallied 4.01%.
Global energy markets reacted strongly: Brent crude, the international benchmark, tumbled 13.89% to USD 94.09 a barrel. Asian markets mirrored the mood, with South Korea’s Kospi surging 6.87% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 5.39%; Shanghai and Hong Kong also posted sharp gains. European markets traded significantly higher, while US markets had ended flat on Tuesday.
“The ceasefire announcement sharply reduced fear and risk-off sentiment, with India’s volatility index dropping over 20%, indicating a swift compression in uncertainty,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money. He added that Iran’s signal of possible safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz during the two-week window helped push Brent toward the USD 92 mark.
The RBI’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep the benchmark repurchase rate at 5.25%, adopting a cautious wait-and-watch stance as policymakers assessed the fallout from the six-week Iran conflict on energy supplies, inflation and growth. Traders said the neutral stance was seen as supportive for equities.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 8,692.11 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 7,979.50 crore, according to exchange data. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit, said the interim ceasefire is a step toward regional stability and that reopening of the Hormuz Strait has helped push oil below USD 100, easing downside risks to FY27 earnings. He added that sentiment gains have driven down the 10-year bond yield and strengthened the rupee, further aiding financials.
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/04/09/sensex-nifty-soar-nearly-4-pc-on-us-iran-ceasefire/
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Publish Date: 2026-04-09 04:50:00
