INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Analysts say some correction can be expected in the near term before the markets return to record levels
Domestic stock markets started Thursday's session on a positive note amid gains in Asian peers as the US and Iran
backed away from the brink of further conflict in the Middle East
The S-P BSE Sensex index climbed up as much as 500.44 points to touch 41,318.18 points on the upside in early trade, and the broader NSE
Nifty benchmark moved to as high as 12,177.00, up 151.65 points from the previous close
Crude oil prices returned to the levels seen before the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani by the US last week
Gains across sectors - led by banking, auto, metal and energy shares - pushed the markets higher
At 9:19 am, the Sensex traded 442.84 points - or 1.08 per cent - higher at 41,260.58, while the Nifty was up 132.75 points - or
Top percentage gainers were JSW Steel, Bharti Infratel, IndusInd Bank, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, trading between 2.42 per cent and
235-point gain in the index.Equities in other Asian markets rebounded with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
far.US President Donald Trump responded overnight to an Iranian attack on US forces with sanctions, not violence
Iran offered no immediate signal it would retaliate further over a January 3 US strike that killed one of its senior military
commanders.Crude oil prices eased
Brent futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - prices crept up from month lows hit overnight to $65.84 per barrel, about where they
began the year.Meanwhile, the government lifted restrictions on the use of coal mined domestically and eased bidding rules from March, as
mining blocks in March, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said after Cabinet approved the plans, a move that could end state-run Coal India's
near-monopoly of the fuel.Previously, the government restricted the end use of the fuel, with winners of coal block auctions only allowed to
use output for specific purposes and not to sell it in the open market
0.13 per cent - lower at 40,817.74 and the Nifty settled at 12,025.35, up 27.60 points - or 0.23 per cent - from the previous close, as the
markets recovered most of the day's losses.
