Markets Undeterred By Strikes Against Pak

Geopolitical tensions, following India’s military response to a terrorist attack, triggered a gap-down opening. However, a swift recovery helped the indices edge higher by the close, said Ajit Mishra, sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher in a volatile session on Wednesday as India launched missile strikes on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).

After gyrating between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 105.71 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 80,746.78 points. The index opened sharply down by 692 points and fell further to hit a day’s low of 79,937.48 in early trade. However, buying in private banks and select auto shares such as Tata Motors helped the barometer recover most of the losses and hit a high of 80,844.63 later. The 50-issue Nifty of NSE advanced by 34.80 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 24,414.40. Nifty moved between a high of 24,449.60 and a low of 24,220 during the session.

Broader markets also recouped intraday losses and closed higher by more than a per cent. Sectoral indices closed mixed as auto, realty, and metal sectors advanced while pharma and FMCG ended in the red.

“Geopolitical tensions, following India’s military response to a terrorist attack, triggered a gap-down opening. However, a swift recovery helped the indices edge higher by the close,” said Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

“Even as the country is in the middle of a military action against terrorist network across the border, markets witnessed gyration during intra-day trade, but eventually managed to shrug off the uncertainty to end slightly higher. While the mood will be of caution due to Indo-Pak war tension, markets could witness choppy sessions with stock-specific activity over next few days,” added Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd.