MUMBAI: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Wednesday after a volatile session, as markets reacted to reports of missile strikes by India on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam attack.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 105.71 points, or 0.13 per cent, to end at 80,746.78. It touched an intra-day high of 80,844.63 and a low of 79,937.48.
The NSE Nifty gained 34.80 points, or 0.14 per cent, to close at 24,414.40, after swinging between 24,449.60 and 24,220 during the day.
In a pre-dawn retaliatory strike two weeks after 26 civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Indian armed forces launched missiles at nine terror targets under ‘Operation Sindoor’.
These included the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke.
Market resilient
“Despite geopolitical tensions, the market showed resilience and ended in the green after intra-day swings. While caution will persist, especially around Indo-Pak tensions, we expect choppy trading with stock-specific moves in the near term,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
Among Sensex stocks, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were among the top gainers.
Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, ITC, Nestle, Reliance Industries and HCL Technologies were among the laggards.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs3794.52 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
“Indo-Pak tensions tend to cause knee-jerk reactions in markets, but historically they’ve not had a lasting impact unless accompanied by broader global shocks. Indian markets typically recover swiftly once uncertainty clears,” said Pankaj Singh, founder and principal researcher at SmartWealth.ai.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower. European markets were trading in the red, and US equities ended lower overnight.
Separately, India and the UK on Tuesday finalised a free trade agreement that will reduce tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian exports and ease access for British products such as whisky and automobiles.
Global crude prices edged higher, with Brent rising 0.64 per cent to $62.55 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the Sensex had dropped 155.77 points, or 0.19 per cent, to close at 80,641.07, while the Nifty fell 81.55 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 24,379.60.
