Defence stocks surge as Israel-Iran war escalates; GRSE, BDL, BEL others jump up to 5%

Defence stocks significantly surged on June 13 as the war between Israel and Iran continued to escalated, fueling hopes of higher defence equipment orders amid heightened global uncertainties. The sharp rise in the share prices pushed the Nifty India Defence index up 2.5 percent to snap a two-day losing streak.

Notably, the defence stocks had seen significant profit booking at elevated levels recently, after an earlier rally triggered by Operation Sindoor and escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war cooled down. The rally in the stock prices has again resumed after Israel's attacks on Iran.

Israel carried out what it called as "preemptive strikes" against Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrikes were aimed at key parts of Iran’s nuclear and military program. "We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment program, Iran's nuclear weaponization program, Iran's main enrichment facilities, leading nuclear scientists, and ballistic missile programs," Netanyahu said. The airstrikes killed several top Iranian military officials, including Iran’s armed forces chief Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC commander Hossein Salami.

Iran soon retaliated by launching over 100 drones toward Israel. "All [aerial] defense arrays have been operating to intercept the threats. This is a different event to what we’ve experienced thus far, and we’re expecting difficult hours. We should show resilience and patience," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said.