Mumbai: Indian stock markets rebounded sharply on Friday, with benchmark indices recovering after Thursday’s steep selloff.

The BSE Sensex surged over 900 points, while the Nifty 50 climbed more than 270 points in early trade, supported by easing crude oil prices and value buying.

Among Sensex constituents, HDFC Bank was the only laggard, falling over 1 per cent and extending losses following Chairman Atanu Chakraborty’s sudden resignation. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, HCLTech, Infosys and Power Grid Corporation of India led the gains, rising around 2–3 per cent.

Also read | Food prices set to rise in Gulf as Strait of Hormuz blockade stalls imports

The rebound comes a day after massive wealth erosion in the markets. On Thursday, investors lost Rs 12.87 lakh crore as equities went into a tailspin, dragged down by a spike in crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in West Asia.

Investors have now lost over Rs 37 lakh crore since the crisis began on February 28. The 30-share BSE Sensex had plunged 2,496.89 points or 3.26 per cent — its biggest single-day fall since June 2024 — to close at 74,207.24. During the session, it had dropped as much as 2,753.18 points.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies also tumbled by Rs 12,87,273.89 crore to Rs 4,26,13,557.95 crore (USD 4.61 trillion) in a single day.

"Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp reversal today, breaking their three-day recovery rally and closing significantly lower, with benchmark indices declining by nearly 3.3 per cent.

Also read | Big opportunity? SEBI says India’s market dip opens doors for investors

"The sell-off was largely driven by a fresh escalation in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, where renewed strikes between Israel and Iran targeting critical oil and LNG infrastructure have reignited concerns over global energy supply disruptions," Ponmudi R said.

Meanwhile, Stock markets fell sharply worldwide after another leap in oil prices hiked the pressure even higher on the global economy. Brent crude, the international standard, briefly rose above $119 per barrel Thursday morning before pulling back to $110, which is still 3.2% up from the prior day. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% to deepen its drop for the week so far, which is on track to be its fourth straight losing week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 415 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2%. European markets fell even more, and Asian markets closed lower.

The Iranian attack hit the Ras Laffan terminal for shipping out liquefied natural gas in Qatar. Qatar normally supplies some 20% of the world’s consumption of LNG, which can be carried by ship. The facility shut down after a drone attack. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most tanker traffic also left the gas with nowhere to go.

If the disruptions from Iran’s attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors’ energy infrastructure keep oil and gas prices high for long, they could create a debilitating wave of inflation for the global economy.