Nifty settles above 24,900, Sensex breaks 2-day losing streak as investors shrug off Israel-Iran tensions

Laggards on the benchmark index included Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, along with Adani Ports.

Dalal Street kicked off the week on a strong note on Monday, June 16, shrugging off geopolitical fears amid rising tensions in West Asia. Investors flocked towards the relative safety of large-cap, blue-chip counters, leading to the Nifty 50 and Sensex rallying nearly one percent in trade.

At close, the Sensex was up 677.55 points or 0.84 percent at 81,796.15, and the Nifty was up 227.90 points or 0.92 percent at 24,946.50. About 1884 shares advanced, 2016 shares declined, and 161 shares unchanged.

On the sectoral front, with IT, metal, realty and oil & gas stocks leading the gains, rising over one percent each. All sectoral indices traded with strong gains. The broader markets staged a smart recovery, jumping nearly one percent and seeing some buying interest after falling at open.

"Despite mounting global uncertainty triggered by escalating tensions in the Middle East, Indian markets remained resilient. The geopolitical landscape took a sharp turn as Israeli military strikes on Iran raised alarms over potential disruptions in oil supply and regional stability, unsettling global investors," said Sundar Kewat, Technical and Derivatives Analyst, Ashika Institutional Equity.

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"Interestingly, there is no panic in equity markets. Markets will be severely impacted only if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a huge spike in crude. This appears to be a low probability event now," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said.

"The market scenario characterised by sustained retail buying and fund flows into mutual funds will ensure valuations remain high for an extended period. Therefore, long-term investors can use this risk-off scenario to buy relatively attractively valued stocks like financials," he added.

International brokerage Jefferies reiterated its bullishness on India's largest private lender HDFC Bank Ltd, causing shares to soar over one percent. Further, reports of HDB Financial Services' IPO, a key subsidiary of the bank, drove bullishness.

Chemical players PI Industries Ltd and Navin Fluorine Ltd bagged a rating upgrade from international brokerage Morgan Stanley, as the outlook for the chemicals segment becomes more optimistic. The foreign brokerage noted that while FY25 was marked by subdued demand and pricing pressures, the outlook for the sector appears to be turning more constructive.

Shares of Omaxe Ltd, a real estate developer, surged as much as 13 percent after the company announced it had acquired 260 acres of land in Amritsar, and in the first phase, it is developing 127 acres with an investment of over Rs 1,000 crore.

HDFC Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, BEL, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra were the top gainers on the Nifty. Laggards on the index included Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, and Adani Ports.

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