The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with modest gains in mid-morning trade as broader markets outperformed the benchmarks despite lingering fragility in sentiment amid cautious optimism over potential US'Iran peace talks. Nifty traded above the 24,250 mark. Auto shares rebounded after declining in the previous trading session.
At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 255.36 points or 0.33% to 78,252.29. The Nifty 50 index rose 71.60 points or 0.30% to 24,268.45.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index gained 0.79% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 1.06%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,770 shares rose and 1,225 shares fell. A total of 228 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 1.56% to 17.80.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index rose 0.58% to 26,535.20. The index shed 0.38% over the past trading session.
Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.16%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.27%), Tube Investments of India (up 0.79%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 0.71%), Bharat Forge (up 0.7%), Bosch (up 0.59%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 0.47%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (up 0.34%), Eicher Motors (up 0.33%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.19%) jumped.
Stocks in Spotlight:
DCX Systems added 1.50% after it had received purchase orders worth Rs 9.30 crore from its customer in the normal course of business.
Rail Vikas Nigam rose 3.71% after the company emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for a major infrastructure contract from East Coast Railway. The project involves construction of key bridges under the third and fourth railway line expansions between Nergundi-Barang and Khurda Road-Vizianagaram on the Bhadrak-Vizianagaram section. The total contract value stands at approximately Rs 968 crore.
Angel One advanced 3.18% after the company reported a robust performance for the quarter ended March 2026. The company's consolidated net profit (PAT) jumped 83.49% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 320.24 crore in Q4 FY26, driven by a 38.20% increase in total revenue from operations to Rs 1,459.42 crore.
Global Markets:
Asian markets traded lower on Friday, as cautious optimism over the Middle East conflict tempered sentiment, diverging from Wall Street's record-setting rally.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that the war in Iran 'should be ending pretty soon,' reiterating rosy predictions about the end of the conflict.
Hours earlier, Trump confirmed that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. Iran's parliament speaker has said that Israel halting attacks on Lebanon is a key condition for U.S.-Iran negotiations to start.
The next round of in-person talks between the U.S. and Iran may occur 'probably, maybe, next weekend,' Trump reportedly said on Thursday. A two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will expire on April 21.
Meanwhile, Japan's export credit agency, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, will set up an investment window of up to 600 billion yen ($3.8 billion) to help Asian countries secure energy supplies, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh all-time highs on Thursday, adding to their strong gains this week on optimism for a possible resolution to the Iran war.
The broad market index gained 0.26% to close at 7,041.28, while the Nasdaq gained 0.36% to settle at 24,102.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115 points, or 0.24%, and ended at 48,578.72.
Stocks have risen in recent days on hopes for an eventual peace deal between the two nations. The S&P 500 kicked off the week by wiping out all of its losses since the beginning of the Iran war.
Even if a U.S.-Iran peace deal were to come to fruition in the near term like investors anticipate, there could still be some market volatility approaching due to the war's potential impact on the U.S. economy.