MUMBAI: The opening of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping channels for the flow of crude oil and natural gas, led to a global rally in stocks on Friday evening.
This also overshadowed the muted trading seen in the early part of the day across Asia and some parts of Europe.In the evening, US markets opened sharply higher, with the Dow Jones up over 2% while the S&P 500 rose 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.6%. In late trading in Europe, the DAX in Germany rose 2.6% while the FTSE in the United Kingdom rose 0.6%.
The S&P and Nasdaq Composite indexes hit all-time highs, while the Dow Jones was about 1% away from reaching a new all-time high.In India, in the Gift City of Gujarat, the nifty index rose 1.6%, indicating a strong opening for Indian markets on Monday, provided there are no spoilers for the upbeat investor sentiment on Dalal Street over the weekend.Earlier in the day, after remaining in a narrow range for most of the session, the index rose in late trading to close 505 points higher at 78,494 points on the back of weak crude oil prices due to the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon the previous evening.
Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever contributed the most to the index’s gains today.BSE data showed that foreign funds were net buyers of stocks during Friday’s session, with net inflow reaching Rs 683 crore. On the other hand, domestic funds were net sellers of Rs 4,721 crore.Today’s rise added nearly Rs 5 lakh crore to investors’ wealth, with the BSE’s market capitalization now standing at Rs 465.5 lakh crore.From now on, market participants will look at two things: the second round of talks between the United States and Iran, and the path of crude oil prices, market participants said.In precious metals, gold prices fell by Rs 1,600, or 1%, while silver fell by Rs 5,700, or 2.2% amid weak demand in the domestic market, according to the All India Sarava Association. Globally, gold prices continued their gains, supported by a weak dollar and easing inflation fears after the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The spot price of gold rose 1.5% to $4,860 per ounce. Spot silver rose 4.6% to $81.99 per ounce.