Mumbai, June 20: The Indian stock markets bounced back on Friday after three straight sessions of losses, as investors took comfort from easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The US stated that it is still open to negotiations with Iran and will take a call on supporting Israel within two weeks. This statement helped calm investor nerves and sparked a broad-based rally across the markets.

After a strong start, both the Sensex and Nifty ended the day with solid gains. The Sensex closed at 82,408.17, up by 1,046 points or 1.29 per cent.

During the day, it had touched an intra-day high of 82,488.21. The Nifty also gained 319.95 points or 1.29 per cent to close at 25,112.4.

"The national equity indices surged as Middle East tension moderated with risk of immediate military actions reduced as US dialogue with Iran is expected to take place," said Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments Limited.

He added that the development led the crude price to correct, favouring domestic markets and boosting foreign investors’ sentiments.

On the Sensex front, Maruti Suzuki India was the only loser. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel led the gains with a 3.27 per cent surge.

Other notable gainers included Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, Nestle India, and others.

The broader market also participated in the rally. The Nifty Midcap 100 index ended higher by 1.46 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose by 1.01 per cent.

All sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green. The Nifty Realty index was the top performer with a gain of 2.11 per cent.

Banking stocks saw strong buying interest, with all three major banking indices -- Bank Nifty, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Private Bank -- rising by over 1 per cent each.

Other sectors such as Financial Services, Metal, Auto, and Healthcare also closed with gains of more than 1 per cent.

"The overall sentiment remains positive with sustained buying across sectors and firm participation in the broader market," Sundar Kewat of Ashika Institutional Equity said.

Meanwhile, market volatility declined. The India VIX, which measures the expected volatility in the market, dropped by 4.08 per cent to settle at 13.67.

Rupee traded positive with gains of 0.15 at 86.57, supported by softer crude oil prices and a weaker dollar index.

"Continued FII and DII inflows into Indian markets have helped limit the rupee's downside despite ongoing geopolitical tensions over the past few months," Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities stated. (IANS)

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