Indian shares advanced in early trade on Monday, tracking Asian peers after U.S.-Iran peace talks over the weekend raised hopes the months-long conflict could be heading for closure.
The first round of U.S.-Iran talks ended with progress on a roadmap for a final deal within 60 days, helping calm investor nerves after a tense opening marked by Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump repeating his threats to resume attacks on Iran.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 (.NSEI), rose 0.5% to 24,133, while the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), added 0.52% to 77,192.54, as of 10:00 a.m. IST.
Thirteen of the 16 major sectors gained. The broader small-caps (.NIFSMCP100), and mid-caps (.NIFMDCP100), added 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
“With Iran-U.S. peace talks progressing, we believe the market recovery is likely to sustain, with the only major concern at this stage being the rainfall deficit,” said G. Chokkalingam, founder and head of research at Equinomics Research.
Shares of Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), rose 2.3% after its annual general meeting with brokerages saying the IPO-bound Jio Platforms, AI and new energy businesses would be key growth drivers for the oil-to-telecom conglomerate.