Sensex, Nifty on fire as Middle East tensions ease; full marks to Trump for lifting market sentiment

The benchmark equity benchmark BSE Sensex is up nearly 600 points after the global markets recovered amid the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.  The bourses rebounded after the US and Iran tensions appeared to ease removing the possibility of a likely war, analysts said. After hitting a peak of 41,318.18, the 30-share BSE index was trading 565.07 points or 1.38 per cent higher at 41,382.81. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 169.15 points or 1.41 per cent to 12,194.50. The rally is primarily led by the banking stocks. US President Donald Trump Wednesday tempered days of angry rhetoric and suggested Iran was ‘standing down’ after it fired missiles at US forces in Iraq overnight, as both sides looked to defuse the crisis.

“Markets are in a phase of a relief rally as the Iran US tensions seem to have moderated for how. However the extreme volatility seen over the last 10 days along with high valuations make the near term outlook uncertain. Markets need to give up some gains to come into value zone for buying,” investment advisor Sandip Sabharwal told Financial Express Online. ICICI Bank, IndusInd and SBI Bank are among the top gainers in the Sensex pack. Among the major laggards include TCS, HCL and NTPC.

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In the previous session, Sensex ended 51.73 points, or 0.13 per cent, down at 40,817.74, while Nifty shed 27.60 points, or 0.23 per cent, to finish at 12,025.35. Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 515.85 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 748.40 crore on Wednesday, data available with stock exchanges showed. The rupee appreciated 22 paise to 71.49 against the US dollar in the intraday trade. The brent crude futures rose 55 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $65.99 a barrel after falling 4.1 per cent Wednesday.