Indian stocks saw renewed buying interest in Tuesday’s session, March 23, as tensions in West Asia showed signs of de-escalation, bringing back demand for riskier assets, which were heavily sold off in recent sessions amid concerns of prolonged inflation, driven by stubbornly high energy prices.
The Nifty 50 surged 1.65% to the 22,883 level, recovering most of the previous day’s losses, while the S&P BSE Sensex also climbed 1.87% to 74,059. The broader markets, too, staged a sharp recovery, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices each concluding with gains of 2.7%.
All major sectoral indices finished in the green, with Nifty Media leading the gains with a 3.40% surge, followed by Nifty Auto, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Metal, and Nifty IT, all rising over 1.7%. Others such as Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Realty, Nifty Oil & Gas, and Nifty FMCG also advanced between 1.3% and 1.7%.
US President Trump on Monday signalled a delay in strikes on energy infrastructure for five days, which was seen as a potential step toward de-escalation. He also said that the US and Iran have had very good and productive conversations over the last two days regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East.
Shortly after Trump’s statement, crude oil prices crashed nearly 11% in the previous session. The drop has boosted buying in crude-sensitive stocks such as paints, chemicals, airlines, and OMCs.