Indian equity benchmarks ended near day’s high points on Wednesday supported by strong global cues that helped to ease geopolitical concerns. Markets made a gap-up opening and remained higher throughout the session, amid renewed optimism over potential U.S.-Iran peace talks after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that a second round of discussions could take place in the coming days.

Some of the important factors in trade:

IMF projects India’s economy to grow at 6.5% in 2027: Sentiments remained up-beat with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stating that India’s economy is expected to grow a tad faster at 6.5 per cent in 2027 despite escalating tensions in West Asia.

Piyush Goyal holds talks with Oman counterpart to boost trade, investment: Some optimism also came as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held talks with his Omanese counterpart Anwar bin Hilal bin Hamdoun Al Jabri on ways to promote bilateral trade and investment. 

India’s March CPI inflation inches up to 3.40%: Traders largely overlooked the government data showing the retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.40% (Provisional) in the month of March 2026 as compared to 3.21% in February 2026 on higher food prices. 

On the global front: European markets were trading mostly in green, amid renewed hopes of de-escalation in West Asia after US President Donald Trump hinted a new round of talks with Iran. Asian markets ended mostly higher, tracking positive cues from Wall Street overnight.

The BSE Sensex ended at 78111.24, up by 1263.67 points or 1.64% after trading in a range of 77849.52 and 78270.42. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 2.90%, Power up by 2.87%, Consumer Durables up by 2.84%, IT up by 2.78% and Capital Goods up by 2.54%, while there were no losing indices on the BSE (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Interglobe Aviation up by 4.20%, Eternal up by 4.06%, Power Grid up by 3.90%, TCS up by 3.21% and Tech Mahindra up by 3.19%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.64%, ICICI Bank down by 0.26% and Axis Bank down by 0.13% were the few losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation accelerated further in the month of March 2026 at 3.88% as compared to 2.13% in February 2026, driven by firming prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, amid ongoing tensions in West Asia. The component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased by 2.28% from 192.9 (provisional) for the month of February 2026 to 197.3 (provisional) in March 2026, on the back of sharp rise in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas and a slight surge in minerals prices. However, the prices of food articles and non- food articles decreased in March 2026 as compared to February 2026.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 4.13% from 147.6 (provisional) for the month of February 2026 to 153.7 (provisional) in March 2026, as the price of mineral oils increased sharply in March 2026. But, the Price of electricity decreased in March 2026 as compared to February 2026.

Further, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.88% from 148.2 (provisional) for the month of February 2026 to 149.5 (provisional) in March 2026. Meanwhile, for the month of January 2026, the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 157.6 and 1.68% respectively.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24231.30, up by 388.65 points or 1.63% after trading in a range of 24145.80 and 24280.90. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Interglobe Aviation up by 4.76%, Eternal up by 4.14%, Max Healthcare up by 4.13%, Power Grid Corp up by 4.03% and Wipro up by 3.46%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.81%, ICICI Bank down by 0.30% and Axis Bank down by 0.16% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 3.68 points or 0.03% to 10,612.74 and Germany’s DAX gained 23.78 points or 0.1% to 24,068.00, while France’s CAC fell 36.86 points or 0.44% to 8,291.00.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday following positive cues from the US markets overnight amid rising hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict. A White House official said that a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations are being considered, though no official schedule has been set. China and Hong Kong markets ended higher after a private report said that China’s finance ministry indicated that it will issue 15.5 billion yuan-denominated treasury bonds in Hong Kong on April 22. However, some cautiousness prevailed in the markets as the U.S. blockade targeting Iranian ports could pressure remaining flows, with Washington reporting that several vessels had already turned back in the first 24 hours, even as transit via non-Iranian ports continues.