March 24 (Reuters) - Indian shares joined a global rally on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed the bombing of Iran's power grid amid conflicting signals about talks between the two sides, with a rebound in heavyweight HDFC Bank lifting the benchmarks.
Iran said no negotiations had taken place and launched missiles at Israel after Trump postponed the bombing of its energy infrastructure, citing productive talks with Iranian officials.
The Nifty 50 rose 1.78% to 22,912.40 points, while the BSE Sensex added 1.89% to 74,068.45.
Other Asian markets gained 1.9%, while Brent crude traded near $102 per barrel.
"This seems to be a first step towards de-escalation, although there are contradictory comments from the U.S. and Iran. A drop in oil prices below $90-100 per barrel is crucial for a sustained recovery," said Anita Gandhi, head of institutional business at Arihant Capital Markets.
All 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps added 2.6% each.
India's largest private lender, HDFC Bank, rose 2.8% after it appointed external law firms to review the resignation letter of former part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty.
The shares had fallen 11.7% over the last three sessions, wiping off $16.3 billion in market value, after Chakraborty's abrupt exit.
Financials and banks rose about 2.2% each. Auto stocks gained 2.4%, while tourism-linked shares jumped 3.9%.
Asian Paints advanced 4.7% after the company hiked prices across its decorative portfolio to offset higher crude oil costs.
Indian benchmarks have fallen about 9% each this month, as elevated crude and energy supply woes intensify foreign outflows and hurt the growth outlook.
Goldman Sachs lowered its growth estimates for India for 2026 and warned of a potential 50-basis-point rate hike to counter pressure on the rupee, while a survey showed the country's private sector expanded at its slowest pace in over three years in March.
Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mrigank Dhaniwala
Source: Reuters