Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Friday as trading resumed following a market holiday, lifted by optimism surrounding a potential trade agreement between India and the United States. As of 10.00 am, the Sensex surged 890.29 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 81,132.53, while the Nifty climbed 243.40 points, or 1.00 per cent, to 24,577.60. Market breadth was positive, with 2,012 stocks advancing, 981 declining, and 151 remaining unchanged.

Expert Comment

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, noted that despite a sharp market correction earlier in the month, driven by Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement and the Pahalgam terror attacks, the Nifty closed April with gains of over 4 per cent.

“After the sharp market correction triggered by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and the Pahalgam terror strikes, April has closed with above 4 per cent gains in Nifty. This surprising resilience of the market has been primarily driven by the sustained FII buying for eleven trading days in a row taking the cumulative FII buying for this period to Rs 37375 crores. FII buying has been driven by weakness in the dollar and declining growth prospects in the US,” Vijayakumar added.

“Other macros like declining interest rates in India, decline in the crude price and green shoots of pickup in demand are positives for the market. The high probability of India among the five ‘allies’ of the US entering into early trade deals with the US is also a significant positive factor,” he said.

“However, at the current juncture of high valuations (Nifty trading at above 20 times estimated FY 26 earnings) and high India-Pak tensions, the near-term risk-reward is not in favour of high reward. Therefore, investors can play it safe by increasing the cash component in the portfolio even while remaining invested,” he noted.