Indian shares rose to a two-week high yesterday as signs of progress in US-Iran peace talks pushed oil prices lower and boosted appetite for risk assets.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington and Iran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of global oil and LNG shipments before the war.
The comments pushed Brent crude futures down 5.5pc to $97.8 per barrel – its lowest in two weeks.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab rose 1.32% to 24,031.70 and the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab added 1.42pc to 76,488.96. This was their highest close since May 8.
Gains, however, were capped as US and Iranian officials played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough, analysts said.
Fifteen of the 16 major sectors rose. The small-cap (.NIFSMCP100), opens new tab and mid-cap (.NIFMDCP100), opens new tab indexes gained 1.4pc and 0.9pc, respectively.
Heavyweight financials (.NIFTYFIN), opens new tab jumped 2.2pc, led by 2.6pc and 2.3pc jump in India’s largest private sector lenders HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), opens new tab and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), opens new tab.
Foreign portfolio investors have offloaded domestic stocks worth $23.86bn so far this year, surpassing last year’s record annual outflows.
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