Sensex, Nifty Today: After the brutal rout in the prior session, domestic equity benchmarks bounced back on Tuesday, March 10 as geopolitical tensions showed signs of easing. The BSE Sensex opened with a sharp gap-up of 809.57 points, or 1.04 per cent at 78,375.73, and the NSE Nifty 50 started with a gap-up of 252.75 points, or 1.05 per cent at 24,280.80.
Investors reacted with exuberance in the broader market as well. The Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 were up between 1 per cent and 2 per cent. Nifty 500, which represents more tha 92 per cent of the total free-float market cap of all the NSE-listed stocks, was also up by nearly 1 per cent.
The buying interest reinvigorated in almost all sectors, except IT and oil & gas sectors. Leading in the gains were auto, banks, financial services, consumer durables, realty and pharma.
Among the Nifty 50 constituents, financial services firm Shriram Finance, and aviation firm IndiGo, led gains, gaining more than 6 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.
Pharma company Dr Reddy's Laboratories, insurance firm SBI Life Insurance, and auto firms Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle, Eicher Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra gained between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
Capping the gains on the index were majorly IT stocks such as Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), each falling between 1 per cent and 2 per cent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries also weighed on the index, declining around 1 per cent.
Why Stock Market Is Up Today
The gain in domestic equities came after US President Donald Trump indicated that the Iran war is nearing its end.
When asked by local reporters after a news conference in Florida on March 9, Trump said the Iran war will be over "soon, very soon." Trump, at the conference, claimed that the US was “achieving major strides towards completing our military objective,” adding that “some people could say they are pretty well complete.” Prior to his remarks, he held a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which the latter proposed ideas for a quick settlement to the Iran war.
Trump's Iran-war-ending-soon remarks also triggered a fall in crude oil prices, as it eased supply risk concerns.
At 12:30 PM, the Brent oil futures was down 6.30 per cent at $92.73 per barrel, while the West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude futures quoted 7.12 per cent lower at $88.02 per barrel.
Later, Trump, taking to his social media Truth Social, declared a hard-hitting warning to Iranian leaders against blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He said, the US will hit Iran "TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far" if Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz.
Rupee also strengthened about 0.27 per cent to 91.90 level against the dollar after Trump's remarks.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against world's six major currencies, eased about 0.57 per cent to 98.61 levels.
Easing of dollar pushed gold prices higher, making the yellow metal cheaper for buyers using other currencies. A weaker dollar typically increases demand for gold in international markets, as it lowers the cost for foreign investors.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), the April gold futures surged as high as 1.30 per cent to Rs 1,62,388 per 10 grams.
