Stock Market Opens Higher Despite Border Tensions Between India and Pakistan
The Indian stock market opened in the green on Friday, shrugging off rising geopolitical tensions along the India-Pakistan border.
The BSE Sensex surged 261.93 points to reach 80,063 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty climbed 114.75 points, trading at 24,361.45. This rebound follows a day of losses triggered by weak corporate earnings and global cues.
On Thursday, the Sensex had ended 315.06 points lower at 79,801.43, and the Nifty declined by 82.25 points to settle at 24,246.70. The correction came after a strong seven-day rally in which both indices saw gains of over 8%.
Thursday’s dip was attributed to profit-booking in heavyweight stocks like ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel, alongside tepid earnings from Hindustan Unilever. A subdued global market trend also contributed to the pullback.
“The markets had run up quite significantly over the past week. A bit of correction was expected, especially with key earnings missing expectations,” said Ajay Bagga, a market expert.
Friday’s positive momentum was mirrored across Asia, with major indices gaining on the back of Wall Street’s overnight rally. The technology-heavy S&P 500 index saw its tech sector jump 3.5%, driven by strong earnings from Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
Alphabet’s stock rose over 3% in after-hours trading after beating analysts’ expectations in its Q1 earnings report. During regular trade, the stock ended up 2.5%.
Despite Nissan’s profit warning forecasting a $5.3 billion loss, the Nikkei index also gained, suggesting investors are looking past company-specific setbacks and focusing on broader recovery cues.
The positive market opening came even as tensions escalated between India and Pakistan, following India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty after the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. The diplomatic standoff raised concerns about regional stability.
However, analysts believe domestic liquidity, global cues, and earnings optimism are currently outweighing geopolitical risks.
Experts advise caution amid ongoing earnings season and geopolitical uncertainty. “While investor sentiment remains buoyant, markets may stay volatile in the near term as border tensions evolve,” said Bagga.
