Sensex and Nifty rally despite geopolitical tensions
NEW DELHI: Despite rising global uncertainty fueled by escalating Middle East tensions, Indian markets demonstrated remarkable resilience. Wholesale Price Inflation falling to 0.39% in May from 0.85% in April also boosted sentiments. On Monday, the BSE Sensex surged 677.55 points (0.84%) to close at 81,796.15 while the NSE Nifty 50 rose 227.90 points (0.92%) to settle at 24,946.50.
The geopolitical landscape worsened as Iran launched a severe air strike at Israel during the weekend. Iran's response came after Israel launched a military strike on Iran which targeted its nuclear facility and killed high-profile generals and scientists. The war between the two nations has sparked fears of oil supply disruptions and regional instability, rattling investors worldwide.
Harshal Dasani, Business head, INVasset PMS said that the Israel–Iran conflict, while serious, has not materially disrupted global trade or economic activity. 'As clarity emerged and worst-case scenarios were ruled out, markets bounced back. Investors are again viewing dips as opportunities, with capital rotating into domestic themes that are largely insulated from global geopolitical shocks,' added Dasani.
He further stated, 'We're seeing renewed strength in internal consumption-driven sectors—especially energy, power, defence, and capital expenditure-linked plays—which remain structurally intact. These areas benefit from long-term policy support, strong demand visibility, and minimal dependence on external macro conditions.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
20 minutes ago
- Business Standard
IT companies, BPOs set target of 100% electric vehicle cab fleet by 2030
The target is rather ambitious. It means converting 95 per cent of the existing fleet of over 900,000 cabs, which transports corporate employees from home to office and back Surajeet Das Gupta New Delhi Listen to This Article Most global and Indian corporates in the information technology/IT-enabled services (IT/ITES), business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) spaces — which offer transport services to their employees —want all their cabs to be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. The target is rather ambitious. It means converting 95 per cent of the existing fleet of over 900,000 cabs, which transports corporate employees from home to office and back. The figure is 90 per cent in the case of five cities — Benguluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Delhi-NCR, as they have a higher EV penetration.
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
Fintech Aspora raises $53 million to expand cross-border banking for global Indians
Bengaluru: Aspora, a London-headquartered fintech startup focused on providing banking services for immigrant communities, has raised $53 million co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with participation from Quantum Light Ventures. The company, which was previously known as Vance, is targeting the global Indian diaspora as its first major customer base. The latest round follows Aspora's $35 million and a $5 million seed extension last year. Over the past six months, the company has raised a total of $93 million across multiple funding rounds. Founded by Parth Garg in 2022, who dropped out of Stanford University to start the venture, Aspora is building cross-border financial products for non-resident Indians (NRIs) and other diaspora segments. According to the company, it currently serves 250,000 users, with its primary user base in the UAE. Over the past six months, Aspora's transaction volume has grown from $400 million to more than $2 billion, with users saving over $15 million in fees compared to traditional providers. Aspora offers zero-fee remittance transfers from the UAE and provides exchange rates identical to market benchmarks displayed on Google, while fees may apply in other markets. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Eat 1 Teaspoon Every Night, See What Happens A Week Later [Video] getfittoday Undo The company currently operates across the UK, EU, and UAE, and plans to launch in the United States in July 2025, followed by expansion into Canada, Australia, and Singapore by the end of the year. In addition to institutional investors, Aspora is backed by a group of individual investors that includes Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO, Coinbase), Sundeep Jain (former CPO, Uber), Prasanna Sankar (co-founder, Rippling), and Chad West (former global marketing head, Revolut).
The Hindu
30 minutes ago
- The Hindu
India's uneasy balancing act in the Bay of Bengal
India's economic engagements in the Bay of Bengal appear to be entering a new phase. On the face of it, there is reason for quiet confidence. Trade volumes through India's eastern ports are up. Cargo throughput at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Paradip (Odisha), and Haldia (West Bengal) has grown steadily. The signing of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement earlier this year promises to ease regulatory frictions and reduce port costs. For a region long characterised by low trade integration, these are welcome signs. The decision on Bangladesh And yet, the optimism sits uneasily alongside a decision that has raised more than a few eyebrows. In early April, India withdrew the transshipment facility it had granted to Bangladesh — an arrangement that had allowed Dhaka to route exports through Indian ports to third-country destinations. The official explanation was logistical: Indian terminals were congested, and delays were hurting exporters. That may well be true. But in Dhaka, the move was read differently — as a quiet assertion of Indian disapproval, possibly linked to Bangladesh's recent diplomatic overtures toward China. The timing was hardly a coincidence. The announcement came after Bangladesh's interim Chief Adviser, in a speech in Beijing, described India's northeastern States as 'landlocked' and cast Bangladesh as the region's maritime lifeline — a claim that did not sit well in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly underscored the strategic and economic importance of the Northeast, with Indian Ministers also championing its role in regional connectivity. The suggestion that these States are dependent on Bangladesh for maritime access struck a nerve. This came as India has doubled down to position itself as a regional integrator. In recent years, New Delhi has invested heavily in port infrastructure through the Sagarmala programme to improve coastal logistics and connectivity. Cargo movement on the east coast has more than doubled in a decade, aided by policy changes such as Goods and Services Tax (GST) cuts on bunker fuel and incentives for coastal shipping. Maritime trade is, by all measures, a national priority. Tensions amid reenergised BIMSTEC At the regional level, India has sought to reinvigorate BIMSTEC. The BIMSTEC Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement, for instance, aims to harmonise customs procedures and foster multimodal linkages, with the broader goal of reducing the cost and friction of trade within the Bay. For smaller economies such as Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal, improved access through Indian ports remains a lifeline. That is what makes the rollback of Bangladesh's transshipment facility seem somewhat jarring. It reintroduces conditionality into what had been presented as a neutral economic architecture — one where trade facilitation serves regional integration, not shifting political winds. For Bangladesh, the impact is immediate: exporters, particularly in the ready-made garment sector (which accounts for over 85% of the country's foreign earnings), will likely bear the brunt. Many had come to rely on Indian gateways for faster, cheaper access to global markets. The alternatives — via Sri Lanka or Southeast Asia — are costlier and less time-efficient. The move injects uncertainty into Bangladesh's export logistics at a time of already fragile demand. Tensions have since escalated. In mid-May, India placed restrictions on the import of seven categories of Bangladeshi goods, which include garments, plastics, and processed foods, through land ports in the Northeast. These products can now only enter India through seaports such as Kolkata and Nhava Sheva (Maharashtra), which raises costs and delays. Indian officials cited Dhaka's restriction on yarn imports via land routes as justification, though India's revocation of the transshipment facility had preceded that move. Many in Bangladesh, nonetheless, view New Delhi's response as disproportionate. Some in Delhi argue that Dhaka is being reminded of the risks of strategic hedging. Bangladesh has, after all, stepped up diplomatic engagement with China, reopened maritime trade with Pakistan, and asserted its role as a regional connector. But these are choices Dhaka is entitled to make. If India recalibrates trade access to signal political displeasure, it risks undermining the very idea of cooperative regionalism it has sought to promote. This is not just a bilateral issue. What affects Dhaka will be noted in Naypyidaw, Bangkok, and Colombo. The concern is not that India has used leverage — major powers often do. The concern is that India has done so in a domain once insulated from overt geopolitical contest. Maritime trade corridors, once seen as shared infrastructure, are beginning to feel more transactional. The issue is about credibility India still holds many cards. Its port infrastructure remains the most extensive and efficient in the region. Cargo-handling capacity is expanding rapidly, and coastal shipping and multimodal linkages are more developed than those of any other BIMSTEC partner. But infrastructure alone does not confer leadership. In a region as fragmented and wary as the Bay, credibility matters as much as capacity. If neighbours begin to view Indian trade facilitation as shifting with the political winds, they will hedge — and the regional architecture India hopes to build will inevitably stall. The Bay of Bengal, then, is at an inflection point. On one level, it is a zone of opportunity. With improved connectivity, it could emerge as a self-sustaining corridor between South and Southeast Asia. A proposed BIMSTEC free trade agreement, if concluded and implemented well, could reshape regional trade patterns. On another level, the region remains vulnerable to strategic anxieties. The line between economic policy and geopolitical preference is beginning to blur. There may still be time to draw that line more clearly. India could clarify the circumstances under which the transshipment arrangement with Bangladesh might be reinstated — or, better yet, replace it with a rules-based mechanism that insulates trade from political cycles. That would send a reassuring signal not only to Dhaka but to the rest of the Bay. The larger question is whether India can maintain the balance between asserting strategic interests and cultivating regional trust. So far, the signals are mixed. Abhijit Singh is the former head of maritime policy at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi
