Dalal Street takes breather from selloff; Sensex jumps 1,516 pts, Nifty up 365 in opening, but volatility persists

MUMBAI: The domestic share markets opened on a positive note on Tuesday, taking a breather from recent selling pressure, with both benchmark indices registering strong gains in early trade. However, market volatility remained high amid ongoing uncertainty linked to the Strait of Hormuz. The Nifty 50 opened at 22,878.45, gaining 365.80 points or 1.62 per cent, while the BSE Sensex surged by 1,516.08 points or 2.09 per cent to open at 74,212.47.

Market experts noted that despite the recovery, uncertainty continues to weigh on investor sentiment. Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert, said, “Someone making hay as the world is still not out of the woods, sorry, scratch that, make it, The World is Still Not Out of the Strait of Hormuz. Massive volatility based on social media posts that are promptly denied by adversaries and then blustering rebuttals are made, all the while someone is making huge profits by taking positions ahead of market-moving social media posts and announcements”.

He added that global cues remain mixed. “This morning Asian markets have given up some of their opening gains, oil is slightly up, US dollar is stronger, gold and silver are falling as they have for the past 25 days, and US stock futures are negative 0.4 per cent. It was so wonderful to see Gift Nifty up 800 points plus last night but it is now up around 350 points versus last afternoon’s market close in India,” he said.

In a surprising move on Monday, President Trump paused planned military strikes on Iran’s energy grid for five days, claiming progress in secret negotiations. Iran has publicly dismissed these talks as “fake news,” maintaining that no direct dialogue has occurred. Despite the pause, global tensions remain high as the Strait of Hormuz remains a primary flashpoint.

Crude oil prices continued to remain elevated, with Brent crude trading at $104 per barrel, after briefly declining below $99 per barrel on Monday. In the commodities segment, gold prices continued their downward trend, with 24 karat gold priced at Rs 1,37,370 per 10 grams. Silver prices also declined sharply by more than 3 per cent to Rs 2,17,823 per kg.

Sectoral indices on the NSE showed broad-based buying, with all sectors opening in the green. Nifty Auto surged more than 2 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank gained 2.40 per cent, Nifty IT rose 1.46 per cent, Nifty FMCG increased 1.44 per cent, Nifty Metal jumped 2.31 per cent, Nifty Pharma advanced 1.15 per cent, and Nifty Private Bank gained 1.62 per cent.

In other Asian markets, a positive trend was observed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.75 per cent to 51920, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.13 per cent to 4849, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increased 1.75 per cent to 24797, Taiwan’s Weighted index remained flat at 32697, and South Korea’s KOSPI index surged more than 2 per cent to 5522.

US markets also ended higher on Monday. The Dow Jones rallied by 1.38 per cent to close at 46208, the S&P 500 gained 1.15 per cent to 6581, and the Nasdaq rose by 1.38 per cent to 21946. (ANI)