Markets surge after de-escalation in geopolitical tensions; Sensex jumps nearly 2,000 points
Mumbai, May 12 — Indian stock markets witnessed a robust rebound in early trade on Monday as the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan spurred investor optimism, easing geopolitical tensions rattling markets last week.The BSE Sensex rallied by 1,793.73 points to reach 81,248.20, while the NSE Nifty soared by 553.25 points to 24,561.25 during the initial trading hours. Building on this momentum, the Sensex advanced to trade 1,949.62 points higher at 81,398.91, and the Nifty climbed 598.90 points to 24,606.90.
The rally followed a weekend announcement that India and Pakistan had agreed to cease all military actions on land, air, and sea effective from 5 PM Saturday. This decision came after India initiated ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7, targeting nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Market Experts Cautiously Optimistic
Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, remarked,He added that constructive trade talks between the US and China further improve global market outlooks. At the same time, domestic inflation data due Tuesday and Wednesday will remain a key focus ahead of the following monetary policy review.
Sectoral and Stock Highlights
Among major Sensex gainers were:- Adani Ports
- Eternal
- Bajaj Finance
- Axis Bank
- Bajaj Finserv
- Reliance Industries
- Power Grid
- NTPC
Global Market and FII Trends
Asian markets reflected positive sentiment with South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng trading higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 remained slightly lower. On Wall Street, US indices ended Friday on a mixed note.Meanwhile, Brent crude prices edged higher by 0.52 percent to USD 64.24 per barrel, indicating a moderate recovery in global oil prices.
Despite Friday’s sell-off amid geopolitical worries, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers, pulling out Rs 3,798.71 crore, reversing their earlier buying streak.
Previous Session Recap
On Friday, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan had dragged markets down, with the Sensex falling 880.34 points (1.10%) to close at 79,454.47, and the Nifty slipping 265.80 points (1.10%) to 24,008.As geopolitical heat cooled and diplomatic developments unfolded positively, markets have responded with sharp gains, reflecting renewed investor confidence and global support for de-escalation.
