Mumbai, March 25 – The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rose by over 2% on Wednesday, driven by a decline in crude oil prices and a rally in Asian markets amid hopes of de-escalation in the West Asia conflict.
Building on its previous day's gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,667.14 points or 2.25% to 75,735.59. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 522.35 points or 2.27% to 23,434.75.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Trent, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers.
Tech Mahindra was the only laggard.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell by 4.07% to USD 100.2 per barrel.
In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were trading in positive territory.
The US market closed lower on Tuesday.
"Hope is returning to the market with indications of de-escalation in the conflict. Statements from President Trump and from the Iranian regime suggest that the conflict might end soon. In particular, Iran's reiteration that 'non-hostile ships can transit the Strait of Hormuz' is good news that will alleviate India's energy concerns," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 8,009.56 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 5,867.15 crore.
"The Indian stock market opened on a positive note with a significant gain, extending Tuesday's strong recovery, supported by optimism regarding potential de-escalation in Middle East tensions," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said.
On Tuesday, the Sensex jumped 1,372.06 points or 1.89% to close at 74,068.45. The Nifty surged 399.75 points or 1.78% to end at 22,912.40.