Indian equity benchmarks surged sharply on Wednesday, with both the Nifty and Sensex ending with gains of over 3.5%, supported by easing geopolitical tensions after the United States and Iran agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire, allowing shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz. Markets made a gap-up opening and sustained momentum throughout the day, after Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to keep policy rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

RBI holds repo rate at 5.25%: Traders took note of report that the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the benchmark policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in the April monetary policy review, and retained its current policy neutral stance, amid hopes of a global recovery on the back of ceasefire in the six-week-long US/Israel-Iran conflict. 

India, New Zealand to sign Free Trade Agreement: Some support came as India and New Zealand are likely to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on April 24, which will provide tariff-free access to domestic exporters for their goods in the island nation's market, and will bring in $20 billion of investment over the next 15 years.

Bank credit to grow at around 13% in FY27: Some optimism came as Crisil Ratings said that bank credit is poised to grow around 13% this fiscal, driven by healthy growth in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) and retail sectors. 

On the global front: European markets were trading in green, while Asian markets ended higher after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire, during which shipping traffic will be allowed through the Strait of Hormuz.

The BSE Sensex ended at 77562.90, up by 2946.32 points or 3.95% after trading in a range of 77042.15 and 77635.54. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 6.76%, Auto up by 6.55%, Bankex up by 5.72%, Consumer Durables up by 5.15% and Consumer discretionary up by 5.11% (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 8.22%, Larsen & Toubro up by 7.81%, Bajaj Finance up by 7.44%, Axis Bank up by 6.66% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.60%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.45%, Sun Pharma down by 0.37% and Power Grid Corp down by 0.15% were the few losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said India’s total electric vehicle (EV) retail sales grew by 24.6 per cent, reaching 24.52 lakh units in the financial year 2025-26 (FY26) as compared to the previous fiscal, with all segments recording strong double-digit growth. 

According to the data, electric passenger vehicles (PV) registered the fastest growth among major segments, rising 83.62 per cent to 1,99,923 units in FY26 from 1,08,873 units in FY25. Electric two-wheeler sales rose 21.81 per cent to 14,01,818 units in FY26 as compared to 11,50,790 units in FY25. 

Data further indicated that the electric three-wheeler category saw a growth of 18.87 per cent at 8,30,819 units in FY26, up from 6,98,914 units in FY25. Electric commercial vehicle sales more than doubled to 19,454 units in FY26 from 8,820 units in FY25, reflecting a 120.57 per cent rise. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 23997.35, up by 873.70 points or 3.78% after trading in a range of 23828.50 and 24025.15. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shriram Finance up by 10.16%, Tata Motors Passenger up by 8.78%, Adani Enterprises up by 8.65%, Eicher Motors up by 8.39% and Interglobe Aviation up by 8.12%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.97%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.35%, Nestle down by 0.74%, Wipro down by 0.55% and ONGC down by 0.40% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; Germany’s DAX gained 1049.51 points or 4.58% to 23,971.10, France’s CAC rose 337.66 points or 4.27% to 8,246.40 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 259.04 points or 2.5% to 10,607.83.

Asian markets settled higher on Wednesday as Crude oil prices crashed below $100 a barrel after the United States and Iran have agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire to allow negotiations for a potential deal to end the war, during which shipping traffic will be allowed through the Strait of Hormuz. Lower energy costs improved the outlook for monetary easing and lifted investor confidence globally. South Korean shares and the won rebounded strongly as the Bank of Korea (BOK) reported a historic monthly current account surplus of $23.19 billion in February, driven by strong semiconductor exports and overall trade performance.