Indian equity markets surged sharply on Thursday, with the Sensex climbing over 1,300 points, after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on trade tariffs for most countries, including India. The move buoyed investor sentiment despite lingering concerns over renewed trade tensions between the US and China.
The Sensex jumped 1,310.11 points, or 1.77%, to close at 75,157.26. During the session, it touched an intra-day high of 75,467.33 and a low of 74,762.84. The broader Nifty 50 index also rallied, gaining 429.40 points, or 1.92%, to settle at 22,828.55.
While the Nifty faced resistance around its 21-day exponential moving average (EMA), closing slightly below its intraday peak, analysts remain cautiously optimistic.
“The trend remains bearish unless the index decisively crosses the 23,000 mark, where significant open interest has built up. On the downside, support lies at 22,750 — a breach of which could trigger further weakness,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
The rally was broad-based, with strong buying across all sectors. The BSE Midcap index rose 1.84%, while the Smallcap index surged 3.04%.
Among sectoral indices, metals led the charge, with the Nifty Metal index gaining over 4%. Energy, pharma, auto, and banking stocks also posted robust gains. Hindalco emerged as the top performer on the Nifty, rising 6.52%, followed by Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and Coal India — all up between 4.4% and 4.8%.
Despite the upbeat mood in Indian markets, Asian equities were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s KOSPI, and Singapore’s Straits Times ended in negative territory. The cautious tone followed China’s decision to retaliate against recent US tariff hikes by announcing import duties of up to 125% on select American goods. This comes in response to Trump’s move to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to an effective 145%.
“Despite global volatility, Indian equities cheered the temporary relief in the global trade environment, triggering a rally across market segments,” analysts noted.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee also traded higher, gaining 0.70 to close at 86.00 against the US dollar. The local currency was supported by a weaker dollar index and improved investor confidence following the US move to relax tariffs on Indian goods by 10% for the next three months.