The Sensex rebounded more than 2,000 points from the intraday low, finally settling 185 points, or 0.3%, higher at 73,320. The index opened lower and fell further by 1,588 points to hit an intraday low of 71,546 in the first half of the session. Strong value buying in leading IT companies such as HCL Tech, TCS, banking giants HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank helped the barometer recover from steep losses, as it reached a high of 73,569 in the pre-lockdown session.On the NSE, the Nifty index followed a similar path and closed above 22,700 at 22,713, up 34 points, or 0.2%. The index fell 497 points, or 2.2%, in early trading before recovering to reach 22,782 points.A sharp recovery in the rupee after the Reserve Bank of India intervened with a series of measures to restrict banks from onshore futures markets also helped improve investor sentiment.The share prices of 2,649 shares rose, while the prices of 1,589 shares decreased, and 149 shares remained unchanged.
“Indian stock markets opened lower as Trump’s renewed threat to hit Iran ‘very hard’ erased the optimism built in the previous session, leading to widespread selling in Asian markets,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments.Crude oil rose more than 7% after Trump’s speech, with Brent crude trading at 109% per barrel.