Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty faced heavy volatility Wednesday morning trade after India launched missile strikes on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
The Sensex hit the day’s high of 80,844.63 and an intra-day low of 79,937.48. The NSE Nifty hit a high of 24,449.60 and a low of 24,220.
Both the benchmark indices depicted range-bound trading during the morning trade. The BSE benchmark gauge traded 87.81 points lower at 80,553.26, and the Nifty quoted 16.55 points down at 24,365.05.
Retaliating for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces on early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke.
The military strikes were conducted under ‘Operation Sindoor’ two weeks after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
“What stands out in ‘Operation Sindoor’ from the market perspective is its focused and non-escalatory nature. We have to wait and watch how the enemy reacts to these precision strikes by India. The market is unlikely to be impacted by the retaliatory strike by India since that was known and discounted by the market,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The main catalyst of the market resilience in India is the sustained FII buying of the last 14 trading days which has touched a cumulative figure of Rs 43,940 crore in the cash market, he said.
“FIIs are focused on the global macros like weak dollar, slower growth in the US and China in 2025, and India’s potential outperformance in growth. This can keep the market resilient. However, investors have to watch the developments in the border,” Vijayakumar added.
From the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, and ITC were among the laggards.
Tata Motors, Power Grid, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and State Bank of India were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,794.52 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
“Geopolitical tensions like the ongoing Indo-Pak standoff under ‘Operation Sindoor’ tend to cause immediate market volatility. While short-term caution is reasonable, history shows that Indian markets demonstrate strong resilience once clarity returns. Unless accompanied by broader economic or global shocks, Indo-Pak tensions have not had a lasting negative impact. Investors should focus on fundamentals, not fear,” said Pankaj Singh, small case manager and Founder and Principle Researcher at SmartWealth.ai.
In the Asian market, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were quoting in the positive territory.
US markets ended lower Tuesday.
“Markets now hinge on three catalysts: further military action, global tariff progress, and the US Fed’s policy decision on May 7,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
India and the UK on Tuesday sealed a landmark free trade agreement that will lower tariffs on 99 per cent Indian exports and will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars, and other products to India besides boosting the overall trade basket.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.97 per cent to USD 62.75 a barrel.
Snapping its two days of gains, the BSE benchmark declined 155.77 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 80,641.07 Tuesday. The Nifty dipped 81.55 points or 0.33 per cent to 24,379.60.
PTI
