MUMBAI: The Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp recovery on Monday morning as the benchmark BSE Sensex surged over 500 points, reclaiming the 77,000-mark. The rally was primarily fueled by emerging reports of a potential de-escalation in the Middle East, with Iran reportedly sending a peace proposal to the US to end the ongoing conflict.
At 11:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 505 points higher at 77,169.21, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 advanced 152 points to trade above the critical 24,050 level. The market breadth was significantly positive, with approximately 2,905 shares advancing against 952 declining on the BSE.
The positive sentiment was broad-based, with significant buying seen in IT, FMCG, pharma, and metal stocks. Market heavyweights M&M and Eternal led the gainers, each jumping over 2%. Pharma stocks also saw a strong rebound, with the Nifty Pharma index rising nearly 3% after a sluggish previous session.
“The reports of a peace proposal have provided much-needed relief to global markets, which were reeling under the ‘Iran shock’ for the past few weeks. This has triggered a strong risk-on sentiment in domestic equities,” said a senior market analyst.
However, the banking sector remained mixed. While PSU banks like SBI and PNB showed resilience, private lenders like ICICI Bank and Axis Bank faced minor selling pressure. More notably, the fintech major Paytm saw its shares crash by 7% in early trade. This follows the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) final order on April 24 to cancel the banking license of Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) due to persistent regulatory non-compliance.
Investors are now looking forward to a heavy lineup of corporate earnings scheduled for later today, including giants like UltraTech Cement, Coal India, and SBI Cards, which are expected to dictate the market’s trajectory in the second half of the session.
