Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: Hopes of peace in West Asia has lifted investor sentiment across the globe. On Wednesday, on Dalal Street, sensex rallied over 1,400 points in early trades and closed 1,264 points (1.6%) higher at 78,111 points as the slide in crude prices to around $95/barrel level acted as the biggest booster for the domestic market.According to Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments, optimism around potential US–Iran talk about extending the ensuing two-week ceasefire supported a broad-based market rally, driving oil prices below $100 as expectations of talks outweighed concerns over supply disruption. Despite a muted Q4 earnings outlook by India Inc, investors “remain encouraged by attractive valuations and a relatively better FY27 earnings outlook, indicating that the rally could sustain momentum in the near term.”Wednesday’s session was a rare day for foreign funds to remain net buyers. Since the war started on Feb 28, the day’s Rs 666-crore net inflow was the second such instance. April 12 was the first day when foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had recorded a net buying figure of Rs 1,507 crore, NSDL and BSE data showed.The day’s session started with the sensex up about 1,150 points. It hit an intraday high at 78,270 points (up 1,422 points), dipped a bit from there and held on to the levels. On NSE, nifty followed a similar trajectory to close 389 points (1.6%) up at 24,231 points.The day’s session made investors richer by Rs 9.4 lakh crore with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 458.6 lakh crore, official data showed.Across the world, Nikkei in Japan closed a marginal 0.4% up while Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed 0.3% up and Shanghai Composite in China closed barely changed. FTSE in UK was down 0.5% in late trades Wednesday while Dax in Germany was up a marginal 0.1%. In early trades in the US, major indices were showing a mixed trend: Dow Jones index was down 0.5%, while Nasdaq Composite was up 1.1% and S& was up a marginal 0.5%.In forex market, the rupee closed at 93.39 against the dollar, barely changed from Monday’s 93.38.According to Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Indian equities are expected to sustain their upward bias so long as the peace talk narrative holds and crude stays in check, though FPI flows and geopolitical developments will be closely watched.
