Sensex Jumps 939 Points in Volatile Rebound; Nifty Closes Above 23,400
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- Sensex closed 939 points higher at 75,502.85 while Nifty 50 gained 258 points to settle at 23,409, recovering from a morning sell-off that had briefly pushed the indices below the psychologically important 74,000 and 23,000 levels
- UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, Trent, Eternal and Bajaj Finance led Sensex gainers with 2-3% rises, while BEL, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and NTPC were among the top losers; on NSE, roughly 1,075 shares advanced against 2,213 declines
- India VIX dropped over 4% after soaring the prior week, even as Brent crude climbed more than 2% to trade above $105 per barrel amid a third week of the Iran-US/Israel war and ongoing disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, which carries over 20% of global oil and gas shipments
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the Financial Times that India is engaging Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that talks are 'already yielding some results,' after vessels Shivalik and Nanda Devi carrying a combined 92,700 tonnes of LPG safely crossed the waterway
- US President Donald Trump said his administration is in talks with seven countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, while expressing doubt Tehran is prepared for serious negotiations; Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said his country is ready to defend itself indefinitely
- Foreign institutional investors extended their selling streak to 11 consecutive sessions, net selling Rs 10,717 crore of Indian equities on Friday alone, while the Indian rupee held near its all-time low at around 92.42 against the US dollar
- Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments said the rebound was driven by value buying in auto, banking and FMCG after the recent sell-off, but cautioned that near-term sentiment hinges on Strait of Hormuz developments and the upcoming US Fed policy outcome
Why it matters: Indian markets showed resilience by clawing back a 600+ point Sensex intraday drop, but the rally masks persistent vulnerabilities: oil above $105, an 11th straight session of FII selling, and a rupee within touching distance of its all-time low — meaning any further Strait of Hormuz escalation could quickly erase the day's gains.
