Benchmarks continued to trade higher with strong gains in late afternoon session with heavy buying across all sectors as two-week ceasefire between US and Iran has raised hopes that the West Asia conflict will end soon. Iran has also allowed the shipping traffic to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Besides, the global crude oil prices have retreated with Brent crude oil trading near $94 per barrel. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 5.25 per cent and also decided to continue with the neutral stance in its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. 

On the global front, all Asian and European markets equity were trading higher as the ceasefire between US and Iran helped ease fears of supply disruptions in oil markets and dampened concerns of higher inflation. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77510.01, up by 2893.43 points or 3.88% after trading in a range of 77042.15 and 77624.69. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 6.86%, Auto up by 6.69%, Bankex up by 5.49%, Consumer Discretionary up by 5.15% and Consumer Durables up by 4.92%. Meanwhile, there were no losers on BSE sectoral index. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 7.62%, Interglobe Aviation up by 7.54%, Ultratech Cement up by 7.27%, Maruti Suzuki up by 7.04% and Bajaj Finance up by 6.98%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.58%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.25% and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 0.24% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing and increase exports, Union minister Giriraj Singh has said that the government will expand the coverage of the Rs 10,683-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles which now includes man-made fibre (MMF) apparel, fabrics, and technical textiles.

The minister said the addition of products to the list of eligible items for receiving the government's financial support will support industry, enhance ease of doing business, encourage fresh investments in the sector and accelerate growth in the textiles sector. He said it underscores the government's focus on fostering employment and driving India's leadership in the global textile market. He observed that times have changed as earlier there was no emphasis on technical textiles but now the government under PLI Scheme covering technical textiles.

After conferring with representatives from the Indian Footwear Industry, he acknowledged that the footwear industry continues to face several challenges, including issues related to raw materials and quality. He noted that in India, per person footwear consumption is close to 3 pairs. The USA leads the consumption in the world with 7 pairs and China consumes 3.3 pairs. The consumption rises with increase in purchasing capacity, which has risen in India especially during the last 12 years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23977.55, up by 853.90 points or 3.69% after trading in a range of 23828.50 and 24025.15. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 9.12%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 8.57%, Adani Enterprises up by 8.51%, Eicher Motors up by 7.83% and Interglobe Aviation up by 7.62%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.96%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.63%, Wipro down by 0.76%, Nestle down by 0.73% and ONGC down by 0.63% were the top losers.

All Asian markets equity were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 3014.44 points or 5.34% to 56,444.00, Taiwan Weighted added 1531.56 points or 4.41% to 34,761.38, Hang Seng advanced 818.47 points or 3.16% to 25,935.00, KOSPI increased 377.56 points or 6.43% to 5,872.34, Straits Times rose 45.49 points or 0.92% to 5,003.50, Shanghai Composite strengthened 104.84 points or 2.62% to 3,995.00 and Jakarta Composite gained 290.55 points or 4% to 7,261.58.

All European markets equity were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 239.6 points or 2.32% to 10,588.39, France’s CAC rose 310.66 points or 3.93% to 8,219.40 and Germany’s DAX gained 1035.41 points or 4.52% to 23,957.00.