Ceasefire Rally: Sensex Jumps 2,946 Pts, Nifty Surges 873 pts in Historic Bull Run; India VIX Plunges 

Mumbai, April 8: Dalal Street rang its heaviest bells in several sessions Wednesday as the BSE Sensex closed 2,946 points or 3.95% higher at 77,562 and the NSE Nifty 50 surged 873 points or 3.78% to settle at 23,997 in a historic ceasefire rally that wiped out all the geopolitical-crisis related losses of the past fortnight in a single trading session.

The rally was also total, broad and ferocious: all broad market indices from Nifty Bank (+5.67%) to Nifty Midcap 100 (+4.03%) and Nifty Smallcap 50 (+4.62%) closed sharply higher, India VIX collapsed 20.23% to 19.70 and the session’s A-D ratio was overwhelmingly skewed towards buyers.

The only trigger for the rally was the news of immediate, comprehensive Iran-US ceasefire, that saw the single biggest risk factor overhanging global markets since late February lift off overnight.

Iran and US Agree to Ceasefire

Iran and the US, together with all their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire across Lebanon and all other theatres of conflict, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said late on Tuesday, in an unexpected announcement that sent global markets spiralling higher. The ceasefire will come into immediate effect, Sharif said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi subsequently confirmed that Tehran accepted the ceasefire, with Iran’s military standing by to ensure safe passage of all vessels through the Strait of Hormuz during the truce, a move that addressed the single biggest condition that had been behind Trump’s ultimatum on Iran to begin with. Trump later confirmed on Twitter that all US strikes have been suspended in line with the deal. Peace talks between the two sides will be held in Islamabad on Friday, with Vice President Vance likely to lead the American side at the talks.

Top 5 Nifty 50 Gainers: Shriram Finance Soars 10% as Sensex Touches 77,562
The sole blue-chip losers among top-50 names were NTPC and ICICI Bank, with the rest of the index bleeding over 200bps into the green. Shriram Finance was the session’s biggest gainer, surging 10.14% to ₹1,025 against Tuesday’s closing price of ₹930 — a ₹95 single-day jump. Driving gains for this largest lender to Bajaj Finance was robust recovery in risk-on buying for high-beta financial names after the ceasefire announcement. TMPV rocketed 8.75% to ₹335 from ₹308, Adani Enterprises soared 8.65% to ₹2,044 against its previous close of ₹1,882 and Eicher Motors jumped 8.55% to ₹7,170 from ₹6,605. IndiGo closed 8.09% higher at ₹4,614, erasing all of its geopolitical risk-related losses in a single session as crude oil prices plunged back to pre-Ukraine-war levels.

Among the rest of the Nifty 50, L&T gained 7.70% to ₹4,010, Bajaj Finance surged 7.24% to ₹917, HDFC Bank jumped 5.89% to ₹817 and ICICI Bank added 5.11% to ₹1,309 — confirming this was not a narrow sectoral rally but a wholesale re-rating of Indian equities.

Top 4 Nifty Sectoral Indices in Historic Rally

Nifty Realty was the top sectoral gainer on Wednesday, surging 6.75% as rate-sensitive realty stocks surged on both falling interest rate expectations and the double-chance of Iran-US truce in the post-market hours. Nifty Auto followed on its heals, gaining 6.69% on the back of a broad-based surge in auto stocks as plunging crude oil prices directly reduced fuel cost, ease input pressure and spurs consumer spending on discretionary durables like automobiles. Nifty Transportation & Logistics advanced 6.33% as shipping companies saw immediate recovery after the truce announcement which would remove freight disruption fears as Strait of Hormuz reopens for all shipping. Nifty Mobility jumped 6.31%, rounding off a dominant performance for all sectors most directly exposed to lower oil prices and the partial reset of global supply chains.

RBI Holds Rates; Signals Control Over Inflation

The RBI kept its repo rate unchanged at 5.25% in its first monetary policy announcement of the new financial year, adopting a “wait and watch” stance with the geopolitical situation still in flux in the global backdrop. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the MPC voted unanimously for status quo while retaining a neutral stance for future rate action while the situation unfolds. RBI projected CPI inflation at 4.6% for this fiscal year, noting that headline prints had been benign at 2.7% in January and 3.2% in February — a setting that led markets to price in rate cuts in coming quarters.

Asian Markets Join India in Victory Lap

The celebratory mood spilled over to Asian markets on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rocketed 5.39% to 56,308 — its best one-day gain in months while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 3.09% to 25,893 and Indonesia’s JSX Composite (+4.42% to 7,279) led its EM peers on the back of a strong rally on the BSE Sensex. Australia’s S&P ASX All Ordinaries (+2.74% to 9,165) jumped back from its own key support and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 2.69% to 3,995 as almost all major Asian markets ended the session firmly in the green. Malaysia’s KLCI (+1.16%), Thailand’s SET (+1.41%), the Philippine PSEI (+2.22%) and Pakistan’s KSE 100 (+0.31%) also gained in a fitting tribute to the country whose prime minister had brokered the deal that set global markets free.

Sources:

• https://www.bseindia.com/index.html
• https://www.nseindia.com