The headline equity benchmarks traded with major gains in the afternoon trade after Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is ready to negotiate, reports citing a conversation between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. intermediary Steve Witkoff, which was approved by the highest level in Iran. Nifty traded above the 23,000 level. All the sectoral indices on the NSE were traded in the green, with auto, chemical and private bank shares gaining the most.
At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 1,681.71 points or 2.23% to 74,377.98. The Nifty 50 index soared 493.10 points or 2.19% to 23,005.75.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 2.62% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 2.31%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,090 shares rose and 1,039 shares fell. A total of 180 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 6.35% to 25.58.
US-Iran Warfare
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to intensify, keeping global investors cautious as the war enters its fourth week, raising concerns about energy security and global economic stability.
Donald Trump has said that based on the “tenor and tone” of the ongoing discussions, he has instructed the US department of war to postpone any planned military strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.
According to the chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA), nearly 40 energy assets ‘severely damaged' in conflict; warns of ‘worst’ crisis.
Gainers & Losers:
InterGlobe Aviation (up 4.70%), Larsen & Toubro (up 4.65%), Eternal (up 4.48%), UltraTech Cement (up 4.45%) and Shriram Finance (up 4.23%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.
Coal India (down 2.47%), and Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.96%) were the major Nifty50 losers.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Wipro added 1.09% after the company has announced the expansion of its business operations in South Korea, reinforcing the country’s position as a strategic growth market for the company. The expansion includes a larger office footprint in Seoul, the launch of a new innovation lab under the Wipro Innovation Network (WIN), and continued investments in local talent to better serve South Korean clients both domestically and globally.
Kalpataru Projects International advanced 2.47% after the company, along with its subsidiaries, secured orders worth approximately Rs 4,439 crore in its transmission and distribution (T&D) segment.
DCX Systems slipped 1.08% after the company secured an order worth Rs 14 crore from a domestic & international customer for the manufacture and supply of cable and wire harness assemblies.
Indian Railway Finance Corporation rallied 3.52% after it has signed a rupee term loan agreement with Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan to refinance its existing long-term debt of up to Rs 12,842 crore.
Coal India (CIL) slipped 2.35%. The company said that its board has approved the divestment of up to 25% stake in South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) through offer for sale (OFS) and also a fresh issue of up to 10% equity shares by SECL.
Suzlon Energy rose 2.90% after it has secured an order of around 100 MW from Gas Authority of India, marking its sixth wind energy project win from the PSU and the fourth such order in FY26.
SEPC soared 9.25% after the company announced the acquisition of a 90% stake in Abu Dhabi-based Avenir International Engineers and Consultants LLC.
Global Markets:
European and Asian markets jumped on Tuesday as signs of de-escalation in the Middle East conflict moderated oil prices.
The gains came after U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he had instructed the U.S. military to delay planned strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy facilities for five days, after discussions with Iranian officials. The development gave investors hope that the Middle East conflict that spiked oil prices and raised fears of a global recession was nearing an end.
However, Iranian state media, citing an unnamed senior security official in a Telegram post, disputed Trump’s account, denying that any talks had taken place between Washington and Tehran.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and the Topix indices clocked strong gains after the country's headline inflation rate eased for a fourth straight month in February as the economy cooled on stabilizing food prices and fuel subsidies.
The consumer price index fell to 1.3% last month, according to data released by Japan’s Statistics Bureau Tuesday, marking the lowest since March 2022 and below the central bank’s 2% target, down from 1.5% in January.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks rallied after President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran have held talks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 631 points, or 1.38%, to close at 46,208.47. The S&P 500 rose 1.15% and ended at 6,581.00, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.38% and settled at 21,946.76.