Sensex skyrockets 1,161 pts; Nifty trades above 24,150 mark; VIX slumps 8.81%

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in the afternoon trade, amid positive global cues. Sentiment improved on hopes of renewed peace talks between the United States and Iran after Donald Trump indicated that negotiations could resume in Pakistan over the next two days.

The Nifty traded above the 24,150 mark. All the sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the green with IT, media and realty index gaining the most.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 1,160.57 points or 1.51% to 78,006.06. The Nifty 50 index jumped 355.05 points or 1.49% to 24,198.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 2.03% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 2.35%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,555 shares rose and 732 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 8.81% to 18.69.

Economy:

India's wholesale inflation rose to a 38-month high of 3.88% in March, up from 2.13% in February, driven mainly by higher crude petroleum prices, fuel costs, and manufactured goods, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The rise was led by increases in crude petroleum and natural gas, other manufacturing items, non-food articles, basic metals, and food articles.

The fuel and power index rose 4.13%, with mineral oil prices up 8.77%, while electricity prices fell 5.07% during the month.

Prices of manufactured goods increased 0.88%, with 16 of 22 manufacturing groups reporting gains and 6 witnessing declines. Meanwhile, WPI food inflation remained unchanged at 1.85% YoY in March.

Gainers & Losers:

InterGlobe Aviation (up 4.74%), Max Healthcare Institute (up 4.06%), Larsen & Toubro (up 3.68%), ETERNAL (up 3.56%) and Power Grid Corporation of India (up 3.53%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.45%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.54%) and ICICI Bank (down 0.18%) were the major Nifty50 losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company (AMC) dropped 4.87% after the company reported a 16.76% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 763.42 crore on a 0.15% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 1517.01 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q3 FY26.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company advanced 2.82% after reporting a strong set of Q4 FY26 results, with standalone net profit rising 57.60% year-on-year to Rs 608.81 crore compared with Rs 386.29 crore in the same quarter last year. The company's total income witnessed a sharp loss of 78.98% YoY, reaching Rs 3,306 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2026.

Swaraj Engines jumped 6.47% after the company reported a 20.12% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 54.56 crore in Q4 FY26, compared with Rs 45.42 crore in Q4 FY25. Revenue from operations rose 20.18% year-on-year to Rs 545.79 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2026.

H.G. Infra Engineering surged 17.59% after securing a Rs 519.33 crore order from Mirzapur Thermal Energy (UP) for civil and railway infrastructure works at its 2x800 MW thermal power project in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.

Nuvoco Vistas Corporation declined 1.86% after its consolidated net profit slipped 14.99% to Rs 140.71 crore in Q4 FY26 as against Rs 165.54 crore in Q4 FY25. However, revenue from operations rose 8.69% year on year (YoY) to Rs 3,306.75 crore in Q4 FY26.

Global Markets:

European stock markets opened mixed on Wednesday as traders assess the trajectory of the U.S.-Iran war and the prospect of renewed peace talks.

Asian markets traded higher, tracking overnight gains in U.S. stocks, as oil prices fell amid rising hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict.

Media reports suggested that a second round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran was under discussion. Nothing has been officially scheduled yet, the reports added.

'We've been called by the other side,' President Donald Trump said Monday. 'They'd like to make a deal very badly, he added.

Meanwhile, China's finance ministry has reportedly said it will issue 15.5 billion yuan-denominated treasury bonds in Hong Kong on April 22.

Overnight on Wall Street, stocks rose on Tuesday following a strong session in which traders shrugged off a breakdown in peace talks between the U.S. and Iran yet were optimistic that a deal between the two countries was still possible.

The S&P 500 gained 1.18% and closed at 6,967.38. The broad market index now stands less than 1% below its 52-week high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 317.74 points, or 0.66%, to close at 48,535.99. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.96% and ended at 23,639.08.

Also helping sentiment was the release of March's producer price index reading. The index recorded a rise in March, but the rise was considerably less than expected as the Iran war's push on energy prices rekindled fears of another inflation burst.

The producer price index, a gauge of pipeline costs for final demand goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, well below the widely reported estimate for 1.1%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Tuesday.