Stock market today: Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty50, rallied in trade on Friday after a day of losses on Thursday. While Nifty50 went above 24,000, BSE Sensex was up over 1,000 points intraday, crossing the 77,500 mark. Nifty50 ended the day at 24,050.60, up 276 points or 1.16%. BSE Sensex closed at 77,550.25, up 919 points or 1.20%.Indian equity markets moved higher on Friday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty advancing over 1 per cent, supported by improved sentiment driven by hopes of a ceasefire between Iran and the United States along with other positive triggers.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “The market will wait to see the outcome of the peace talks between US and Iran scheduled for Saturday. The outcome of the peace talks will determine the trend in crude prices, which, in turn, will dictate market trends. If the talks lead to de-escalation in the conflict and drive crude prices down, the markets, particularly markets like India which are energy import-dependent, will bounce back. The reverse will happen if the peace talks fail and crude spikes further.”“Going forward, a major drag on the market will be FPI selling. It appears that FPIs are determined to sell in India and move money to other markets like South Korea and Taiwan where the earnings growth prospects are much superior in 2026. However, this will be a short-term view. It is important to note that many stocks are hitting 52-week highs, even all-time highs, even in this challenging market environment. Investors can look at these stocks and analyse the reasons behind the resilience of such stocks. Fundamentally sound growth stocks will do well even during weak market conditions.”
Why did stock market rise today? Top reasons
Iran-US ceasefire optimismInvestor focus is now on upcoming discussions over the weekend, where officials from the United States and Iran are expected to work towards formalising a deal to end hostilities. Although both sides have agreed to a temporary ceasefire, Israel has continued its parallel operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has accused both Israel and the US of breaching the ceasefire terms and termed further peace talks as “unreasonable”. However, Israel’s willingness to engage in talks with Lebanon has lifted hopes that progress could be made in the ceasefire process.Oil prices stay below $100Crude oil prices continued to trade slightly higher but remained under the key $100 per barrel threshold. On Friday morning, Brent crude was hovering around $97 per barrel, while WTI crude was close to $98.Prices had breached the $100 mark in March following the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, the first such instance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and largely stayed above that level for much of the period thereafter.Global markets rallyGlobal equities largely traded in positive territory. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.6 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi climbed about 1.8 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained nearly 1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also edged higher by around 1 per cent in early trade.In the US, Wall Street indices ended the previous session with gains as continued efforts to reach a peaceful resolution to the six-week Middle East conflict helped calm concerns around the fragile US-Iran truce. The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by up to 0.65 per cent. However, Dow Jones futures were marginally lower, pointing to a softer start.European markets, on the other hand, ended Thursday on a weaker note. Germany’s DAX declined more than 1 per cent, while France’s CAC and the UK’s FTSE closed with modest losses.Rupee edges higherThe Indian rupee strengthened by 6 paise to 92.45 against the US dollar. The currency has shown some recovery in April after a sharp fall, during which it had crossed the key 95 mark last week amid the escalating Iran-US conflict.The rebound followed measures by the RBI aimed at supporting the currency, including restricting banks from offering rupee non-deliverable forwards to both resident and non-resident clients, and curbing companies from rebooking cancelled forward contracts.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
