Sensex Surges 824 Points, Nifty Reclaims 23,200 as Cooling Oil Prices Trigger Relief Rally

Indian equity benchmarks recovered on Friday morning, clawing back a portion of the previous session’s historic losses as a cooling in global crude prices and reports of potential de-escalation in West Asia offered a reprieve to investor sentiment.

At the time of reporting, that is, 10:43 am IST, the BSE Sensex was trading 824.69 points higher, or 1.11%, at 75,025.83. NSE Nifty 50 climbed 259.05 points, or 1.13%, to 23,261.05. The rebound follows Thursday's sell-off, which wiped out over ₹13 trillion in investor wealth after the Sensex crashed more than 2,400 points.

Cooling Oil and De-escalation Hopes

The primary driver for the green open is a softening in benchmark energy prices following remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting a pause in strikes on Iranian oil and gas infrastructure. Brent crude futures fell 2.61% to $105.80 a barrel by mid-morning, retreating from the 11-year highs of $119 touched earlier in the session. 

IT Rebound

The Information Technology sector received a boost after global IT giant Accenture raised the lower end of its revenue guidance overnight. This sparked a wave of bargain hunting in Indian tech majors, which had been oversold during the week's panic. Infosys rose 0.95% to ₹1,634.20, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) advanced 1.56% to ₹4,012.00 following the announcement of a strategic AI partnership with ABB.

Institutional Support

Market participants also attributed the rally to aggressive short-covering by traders who had bet against the market during Thursday’s crash. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) provided a crucial safety net, net-buying shares worth ₹3,863.96 crore to offset the ₹7,558.19 crore offloaded by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

Key Stock Movements 

• Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M): Surged 2.10% to ₹1,945.00 on easing input cost fears.
• Tata Motors: Jumped 1.88% to ₹982.45.
• HDFC Bank: Gained 1.45% to ₹1,482.30, leading the banking recovery.
• SBI: Rose 1.30% to ₹842.15 after its mutual fund arm filed draft papers for a highly anticipated IPO.
• JSW Cement: Climbed 2.96% after commissioning a new 2.5 MTPA greenfield plant in Rajasthan.

Despite the rally, there are warnings of continued volatility. The India VIX remains high at 22.80, and the Indian rupee hit a fresh all-time low of 93.24 against the US dollar at the same hour, signaling that while equities have found a floor, the broader macro environment remains fragile.

Also read: Rupee Hits Record Low of 93.24 as West Asia War Spikes Oil Prices