INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Domestic equity indices witnessed a gap-up start to Thursday's session as the United States and Iran backed away from the brink
of further conflict in the Middle East, boosting investor sentiment back home
Most of Asian markets were also trading in the green.
Softening crude oil prices also added to the positive mood on Dalal Street as India
relies heavily on oil imports
BSE benchmark Sensex was up 508.31 points at 41,236.05
Its NSE counterpart Nifty gained 153.85 points and was trading at 12,179.20
Broader market indices were trading in-line with their headline peers
Nifty Smallcap jumped 1.46 per cent to 5,968
Nifty Midcap added 1.14 per cent to 17,269.75 and Nifty 500 gained 1.12 per cent to 9,901.
Volatility barometer India VIX plunged 10.54 per
cent to 13.99.
All sectoral indices were trading in the green on NSE
Nifty PSU Bank was the biggest gainer, up 1.84 per cent
Nifty Auto, Nifty Media, Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal were among other gainers
In the 30-share pack Sensex, IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer, up 2.19 per cent at Rs 1490.75
SBI, up 2.02 percent at Rs 326.30 and ICICI Bank, up 1.75 percent at Rs 535.05, were among other major gainers.
Top factors behind the rally
on D-Street:Trump avoids escalating Iran crisisUS President Donald Trump’s soothing tone in an address from the White House helped the
Trump said the US did not necessarily have to respond militarily to the Iranian attacks on military bases housing US troops in Iraq
He added no Americans were harmed in the strikes
Trump stopped short of making any direct threat of military action but said the United States "will immediately impose additional punishing
economic sanctions on the Iranian regime" in response to what he called "Iranian aggression."
Oil prices sink 4%, lowest since mid-DecA
plunge in oil prices in the international markets cheered domestic investors
Oil now sits cheaper than it was before the killing of the Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad, a strike that raised fears of an
escalating regional conflict
Brent futures nursed overnight losses of 4% to sit at $65.44 per barrel, near the cheapest since mid-December.
India is the third largest
It relies for over 80 per cent of its domestic use of petroleum on imports and a cheaper oil bodes well for it.
Rupee rebounds
sharplyDomestic currency opened with gains on Thursday against the US dollar amid ease in global tensions
Rupee was up 23 paise or 0.33 per cent at 71.47 per dollar
A stronger rupee helps in making imports cheaper for India, which in turn is important for keeping fiscal deficit in check
A media report on Wednesday, quoting government sources, said fiscal deficit could widen to 3.8 per cent of gross domestic product in the
current fiscal year, breaching the target of 3.3 per cent.
Hopes of better-than-expected Q3 showInvestors are also hopeful of a better
quarterly earnings from India Inc this time, especially from certain sectors like banking, IT and FMCG
“For banks, the corporate tax cut will pan out this quarter because a lot of private banks had provisioned last quarter and their result
will be extraordinary this time
So the likes of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Banks and Axis Bank will come out with a very good result,” said AK Prabhakar, Head of
He also has high hopes from IT and FMCG but said there will be moderate earnings from auto firms but that is already factored in the
