Dalal Street cheers West Asia truce, sensex up 3k points

MUMBAI: The overnight temporary truce in the war in West Asia prompted investors globally to press the buy button on Wednesday which led to sharp rallies in markets around the globe including in India. Starting with Japan, across Hong Kong, China, Pakistan, the UK, Germany, and in the evening the US, all the markets were in a buoyant mood and closed higher.

With crude oil prices crashing to below the psychologically important $100/barrel level and rupee strengthening, sensex gained 2,946 points or 4% to close at 77,563 points, nearly a one-month high level. The day's nearly 3,000-point rise for the index was its second biggest single-day gain in history. The day's rally also added Rs 16.3 lakh crore to investors' wealth-the biggest single-day boost in history-with India's market capitalisation now at Rs 445 lakh crore, BSE data showed.

All the sectoral indices closed higher with real estate, auto and financial services industries leading. The day's sharp rally came on the back of strong buying by domestic funds with a net inflow of Rs 4,168 crore, while foreign funds continued to remain sellers with the net outflow at Rs 2,812 crore, BSE data showed.

The ceasefire between Iran and the US, declared on Tuesday evening, still looks fragile, though India can now breathe easy on several fronts.

According to Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, from India's point of view, the safety of 90 lakh Indians working in the Persian Gulf region, availability of energy with the likely opening of the Strait of Hormuz, price of energy nearing pre-war levels and pre-war level remittance flows from West Asia are critical.

Shah, however, cautioned that the markets will continue to react to events and 'there could be many slips between the cup and the lip,' indicating the fragile nature of the ceasefire. "Investors should follow their dharma of asset allocation. Don't chase momentum swinging by events. Be a disciplined investor catching a falling knife," he said.

The day's rally that came as a big relief to investors and traders on D-Street, was reflected in the sharp downturn in the volatility index as India VIX closed the session 20% down at 19.7 points, NSE data showed.

Among the 30 sensex constituents, 27 closed with gains with InterGlobe Aviation (Indigo) up 8.2% while L&T closed 7.6% higher.