Indian Shares Rebound On Trade Deal Hopes, Easing Oil Prices

(RTTNews) - Indian shares rose sharply on Wednesday amid easing geopolitical tensions and growing optimism around a potential U.S.-India bilateral trade agreement. Investor sentiment was also bolstered after Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that discussion on interest rate hikes was premature.

Global oil prices fell to their lowest level in four months amid indications that more tankers stranded in the Gulf since the start of the Iran war were beginning to move through the Strait of Hormuz.

In another significant development, the U.S. Congress has approved a resolution to limit President Donald Trump's war powers in Iran.

In a public show of disapproval of Trump's handling of the conflict, the Senate adopted the war powers resolution by a 50-48 vote, with the support of a few Republican Senators.

On the trade front, media reports suggested that the United States and India are in the final stages of negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, with a deal expected to be signed before July 24. The proposed deal aims to raise bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended up 790.54 points, or 1.04 percent, at 76,991.22, after having fallen more than 1 percent on Tuesday on the back of weak global cues and disappointing PMI data.

The NSE Nifty index surged by 197.55 points, or 0.83 percent, to 24,021.65, with financials and technology stocks leading the surge.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes ended up by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,224 shares rising while 2,030 shares declined and 176 shares closed unchanged.

Among the top gainers, airline Indigo soared 4.7 percent while retailer Trent advanced 3.6 percent.

Adani Ports, TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Tech Mahindra climbed 2-3 percent.