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Market LIVE: Sensex Jumps 550 Points, Nifty Firm Above 12,150 As Mideast Tensions Ease: 10 Things To Know

BSE Sensex Today: The index jumped as much as 550 points during the session amid buying across sectors
BSE Sensex Today: The index jumped as much as 550 points during the session amid buying across sectors
  1. At 12:27 pm, the Sensex traded 527 points - or 1.3 per cent - higher at 41,345, while the Nifty was up 168 points - or 1.4 per cent - at 12,193. 
  2. Forty six stocks on the 50-scrip index moved higher at the time. Top percentage gainers were JSW Steel, Bharti Infratel, IndusInd Bank, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, trading between 2.42 per cent and 3.52 per cent. On the other hand, TCS, HCL Tech, Wipro and Tech Mahindra - down between 0.18 per cent and 0.76 per cent - were the only Nifty laggards. 
  3. HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries contributed the most to the gain in Sensex, together accounting for a 235-point gain in the index.
  4. Equities in other Asian markets rebounded with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 1 per cent, reversing Wednesday's losses. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.8 per cent, lifting stocks to their highest for the year so far.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Meanwhile, the government lifted restrictions on the use of coal mined domestically and eased bidding rules from March, as India aims to attract foreign mining companies and reduce imports of the fossil fuel. 
  8. The country plans to introduce global tenders for coal 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.
  9. 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. That attracted criticism from the industry which said the rules discouraged bidding.
  10. On Wednesday, the Sensex had ended 51.73 points - or 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.