Markets surge over 1 pc mirroring sharp rally in global peers, drop in crude oil prices

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back sharply on Tuesday, climbing over 1 per cent, mirroring a rally in global peers and drop in Brent crude oil prices amid hopes of a potential de-escalation in the Middle East conflict.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 955.83 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 82,852.62 during the morning trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 286.05 points or 1.14 per cent to 25,257.95.

From the 30-share Sensex firms, Adani Ports, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors were among the biggest gainers.

NTPC and Bharat Electronics were the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were trading sharply higher.

US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dropped 2.92 per cent to USD 69.39 a barrel.

"The dramatic developments in the West Asia culminating in US President Trump's announcement of a ceasefire indicate that the worst of the conflict is over. The sharp reactions in the crude oil and stock markets suggest the geopolitical situation limping back to normalcy," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,874.38 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought stocks worth Rs 5,591.77 crore, according to exchange data.

"Markets appear to be shifting towards a bullish bias, supported by a drop in WTI oil futures to USD 66.50, hinting at potential de-escalation in Middle East tensions," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said, in his pre-opening market commentary.

On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 511.38 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 81,896.79. The Nifty dropped 140.50 points or 0.56 per cent to 24,971.90.