Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start on Friday tracking gains across Asia-Pacific markets, even as investors kept a close watch on evolving US-Iran tensions. Sensex and Nifty were trading higher with notable gains of over 0.70% each in early deals on account of value buying in most of the sectors, except IT and Teck. Traders were keeping close eye on development around the resumption of India-US trade talks later this month to discuss the bilateral trade deal agreed in February. Traders took encouragement with the World Bank’s statement that India is well placed to weather the current global energy shock with ample buffers, including high foreign exchange reserves, fiscal space and low inflation, which will support growth despite global headwinds.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher as crude oil prices stabilised below $100 per barrel for a second straight session. A private report indicated that Israel’s prime minister authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon that eased worries that the two-week ceasefire announced late on Tuesday may already be in trouble because of Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77186.02, up by 554.37 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 76851.16 and 77261.73. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.12%, Auto up by 1.76%, Bankex up by 1.67%, Capital Goods up by 1.60% and Industrials up by 1.57%, while IT down by 2.43% and TECK down by 1.56% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.98%, ICICI Bank up by 2.39%, Axis Bank up by 2.23%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.96% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.76%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.27%, Sun Pharma down by 3.11%, TCS down by 3.05%, HCL Technologies down by 2.54% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after raising India's GDP growth projections for FY27 to 6.6%, the World Bank has said that the country is well prepared to handle the current global energy crisis. It highlighted that India has strong protection measures like high foreign exchange reserves, enough fiscal space, and low inflation, which will help maintain growth even during global challenges. It also mentioned that India managed trade disruptions well last year and has entered the current Middle East crisis - which has caused fluctuations in oil prices - from a strong position.

World Bank Regional Practice Director, Prosperity, for South Asia, Sebastian Eckardt has said that India is in a strong position to handle current global challenges. The country has strong policy buffers, high foreign exchange reserves, fiscal space - to provide support as needed, low inflation, and strong economic momentum. The growth is backed by positive policies such as trade agreements (like the EU FTA) and new labour reforms. Even though there are global difficulties, India and the South Asia region are likely to continue performing better than many other emerging markets.

World Bank Lead Economist for India Aurelien Kruse has said India remained the fastest-growing large economy in the world in FY26, despite facing some of the highest tariffs on its exports globally. He said the income tax cuts and GST rate reductions last year supported domestic consumption, while exports and investment, areas which were expected to be adversely affected by tariffs, performed much better than anticipated. He highlighted that ‘India showed very strong performance and resilience’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23948.60, up by 173.50 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 23856.35 and 23978.70. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.31%, Shriram Finance up by 2.78%, ICICI Bank up by 2.51%, Axis Bank up by 2.40% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.09%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.22%, Sun Pharma down by 3.20%, TCS down by 3.05%, HCL Technologies down by 2.38% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.00% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Jakarta Composite jumped 148.88 points or 2.04% to 7,456.47, Nikkei 225 surged 1041.68 points or 1.86% to 56,937.00, KOSPI strengthened 99.59 points or 1.72% to 5,877.60, Taiwan Weighted rose 481.36 points or 1.38% to 35,342.52, Hang Seng advanced 208.6 points or 0.8% to 25,961.00, Shanghai Composite added 24.97 points or 0.63% to 3,991.14 and Straits Times was up by 7.45 points or 0.15% to 4,984.53.