Mumbai, June 22: Stock markets rebounded on Monday with the benchmark Sensex gaining 291 points following a decline in crude oil prices and supportive global cues amid hopes of diplomatic progress in US-Iran talks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 291.17 points, or 0.38 per cent, to settle at 77,094.07 following buying in select oil and gas, banking and pharma shares. During the day, the index jumped 522.66 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 77,325.56.
The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 89.80 points, or 0.37 per cent, to end at 24,102.90.
Fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chips Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank aided the recovery, analysts said.
Among Sensex shares, Tech Mahindra was the biggest gainer rising by 1.87 per cent. Sun Pharma rose by 1.39 per cent, Reliance Industries by 1.31 per cent, Infosys by 1.29 per cent, Bharat Electronics by 1.01 per cent and Bajaj Finserv by 0.89 per cent.
On the other hand, Asian Paints fell the most by 2.15 per cent, Titan by 1.11 per cent, and Power Grid and Trent by up to 1 per cent.
The BSE SmallCap Select index climbed 0.60 per cent and MidCap Select index went up by 0.45 per cent.
A total of 2,635 stocks advanced, while 1,754 declined and 197 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Sectorally, BSE Utilities jumped 1.01 per cent, followed by Healthcare (0.81 per cent), Energy (0.68 per cent), oil & gas (0.68 per cent), Industrials (0.62 per cent) and Focused IT (0.62 per cent).
Consumer Durables tanked 1.05 per cent and FMCG dipped 0.31 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.66 per cent to USD 79.23 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,859.07 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
World shares were mixed Monday with markets in Japan and South Korea trading higher and setting new records, while oil prices edged lower on fresh optimism over progress in US-Iran negotiations. US futures were trading lower.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down less than 0.1 per cent to 10,360.01, after Keir Starmer announced he was stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks. Germany’s DAX was down 0.2 per cent to 24,940.33, while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5 per cent to 8,378.85.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6 per cent and ended at another all-time record of 72,353.96, led by technology stocks that were fuelled by excitement over the global artificial intelligence boom.
Japan’s SoftBank Group, the multinational investment holding company with a strong AI focus, rose 1.9 per cent. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron was up 3.2 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.7 per cent to 9,114.55, also a record closing high, helped by AI-related shares. Memory chip maker SK Hynix surged 5.6 per cent.
The Nikkei 225 and Kospi were up more than 40 per cent and 120 per cent, respectively, over the past six months. Both benchmark indexes have been setting fresh records in recent days on AI enthusiasm and positive developments from the Iran war.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1 per cent to 8,816.10.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 2.8 per cent. India’s Sensex was up 0.5 per cent.
Oil prices fell as talks progressed over a permanent end to the Iran war. Brent crude, the international standard, was trading 1.6 per cent lower to USD 79.30 per barrel. It was at roughly USD 70 a barrel before the start of the war in late February.
High-level negotiations in Switzerland between the US and Iran concluded early Monday, with lower-level technical talks set for the rest of the week. Mediators Qatar and Pakistan said “encouraging progress” was made during the negotiations.
Meanwhile, while Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil and gas transport, was shut again over the weekend, the US said that traffic had continued.
Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific from Capital Economics, believes energy flows in the strait are more likely to recover only gradually. “With the controversial — and fragile — US-Iran peace process now underway, attention is turning to how quickly tankers return to the Strait of Hormuz to load energy supplies,” he wrote in a note.
In the US, investors are also monitoring May’s personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, the preferred inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve, which is due to be released this Thursday.
In other dealings, the US dollar rose to 161.74 Japanese yen from 161.22 yen. The euro was trading at USD 1.1457, down from USD 1.1473.On Friday, the Sensex dropped 607.08 points, or 0.78 per cent, to settle at 76,802.90. The Nifty declined 154.90 points, or 0.64 per cent, to end at 24,013.10. (Agencies)
