A pause in US strikes on Iran sent crude oil tumbling and gave Indian markets the breather they had been waiting for. Monday’s session saw benchmark indices snap a five-session losing streak as broad-based buying returned with conviction, pushing the Nifty 50 back to the cusp of the psychologically significant 24,000 mark.The Nifty 50 closed at 23,995.95, up 228.50 points or 0.96 per cent, while the Sensex gained 776.01 points or 1.02 per cent to settle at 76,835.78.Both indices ended near their day’s highs. From Friday’s low of 23,606, Nifty has recovered over 400 points in a single session, reclaiming its 50-day Exponential Moving Average, a level analysts consider an important marker of short-term momentum.The daily RSI rebounded to 49.55 from 42.87, pointing to improving market strength. India VIX plunged nearly 10 per cent to 12.66, signalling a meaningful easing in investor anxiety.“Monday gave India exactly what it had been waiting for. A pause,” said Sarvam Goel, Founder of Pocketful, noting that Brent crude fell nearly $10 from last week’s peak above $100 to settle near $91. “For India, that single move changes the inflation picture, the rate cut outlook, and the current account math all at once.”The rally was broad and deep. Nifty Media led sectoral gains at 2.4 per cent, followed by IT at 2.3 per cent and Realty at 2.2 per cent.Auto and Pharma added 1.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. Within the Nifty 500 universe, 386 of 500 stocks closed in the green.The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 1.10 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced 1.3 per cent, with both broader indices closing above their respective 20-day EMAs.Market breadth, measured by the BSE advance-decline ratio, improved to 1.76. Among individual Nifty stocks, Eternal, IndiGo, and Infosys were top gainers, while ONGC, HDFC Life, and HDFC Bank underperformed.The rupee appreciated sharply by around 65 paise to close near 95.90-91, making it Asia’s top-performing currency for the day.“Rupee strengthened sharply, appreciating around 0.67 per cent, supported primarily by the more than 7 per cent decline in crude oil prices,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that the currency is expected to trade in the 95.70–96.25 range in the near term, with FII flows and the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision as key monitorables.On the commodity front, spot gold climbed past $4,100 per ounce while silver rose to $59.80 per ounce, extending last week’s gains. The move came as easing energy-led inflation softened near-term rate-hike expectations ahead of Wednesday’s Fed meeting, July rate-hike odds have now fallen to around 31 per cent from 37 per cent on Friday.For the session ahead, attention turns to earnings from L&T and HUL. “One tells you where government capex is going. The other tells you what the Indian consumer is actually doing,” Goel noted. Technically, analysts say a decisive close above 24,100–24,200 could open the path towards 24,500 on the Nifty. Immediate support remains at 23,800, and the near-term bias is characterised as sideways to bullish, with the caveat that the geopolitical situation, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, remains fluid.Published on July 27, 2026