Operation Sindoor: Nifty50 ends above 24,400; BSE Sensex over 80,700 as markets unaffected by India targeting Pakistan terrorist facilities

Stock market today: The Nifty and BSE Sensex finished higher in a volatile trading session on Wednesday following India's missile strikes on terrorist locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The NSE Nifty settled at 24,414.40, rising by 34.80 points or 0.14 per cent, with the index moving between 24,449.60 and 24,220 throughout the session.

The BSE Sensex concluded at 80,746.78, up by 105.71 points or 0.13 per cent, after fluctuating between 80,844.63 and 79,937.48 during the day.

Indian armed forces conducted missile strikes early Wednesday targeting nine terrorist locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including Jaish-e-Mohammad's stronghold in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke, responding to the Pahalgam terror attack. These military operations, dubbed 'Operation Sindoor', were executed two weeks after 26 civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

"Even as the country is in the middle of a military action against terrorist network across the border, markets witnessed gyration during intra-day trade but eventually managed to shrug off the uncertainty to end slightly higher. While the mood will be of caution due to Indo-Pak war tension, markets could witness choppy sessions with stock-specific activity over next few days," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among Sensex components, positive performers included Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Eternal, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid. Conversely, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, ITC, Nestle, Reliance Industries and HCL Tech declined. FIIs purchased equities worth Rs 3,794.52 crore on Tuesday.

In Asian markets, positive gains were seen in South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng, whilst Japan's Nikkei 225 declined. European markets traded lower, and US markets closed down on Tuesday.

India and the UK finalised a significant free trade agreement on Tuesday, reducing tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian exports and facilitating British exports of whisky, automobiles and other goods to India, whilst expanding overall trade.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.64 per cent to USD 62.55 per barrel.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, "What stands out in “Operation Sindoor” from the market perspective is its focused and non-escalatory nature. We have to wait and watch how the enemy reacts to this precision strikes by India. The market is unlikely to be impacted by the retaliatory strike by India since that was known and discounted by the market. The main catalyst of the market resilience in India is the sustained FII buying of the last 14 trading days which has touched a cumulative figure of Rs 43940 crores in the cash market. FIIs are focused on the global macros like weak dollar, slower growth in US and China in 2025 and India’s potential outperformance in growth. This can keep the market resilient. However, investors have to watch the developments in the border. The big shift in market preference in favour of largecaps away from overvalued segments of mid and smallcaps is significant. FIIs, as always, are mainly buying largecaps. This trend can continue."

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