The Sensex recovered from an intraday low of 73,282.41 to trade around 74,010.67, down just 96.18 points or 0.13%, while the Nifty 50 recovered from a low of 22,719.30 to trade at 22,944.45, down a marginal 23.80 points or 0.10%, as of 10:30 AM IST. Both indices had opened significantly lower - Sensex at 73,734.36 and Nifty at 22,838.70 - before recovering sharply through the morning session.

What triggered the recovery
The bounce was directly linked to a fresh announcement from US President Donald Trump on the Iran war. According to a report by Axios based on interviews with six officials and sources with direct knowledge of ongoing diplomacy and Trump's thinking, the president faces a momentous decision on a tight timeline - whether to carry out his threat to obliterate Iran's infrastructure beginning at 8 PM ET, or push his own deadline again to give negotiations a chance. Critically, mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are working to avert an escalation by brokering a deal. A senior administration official told Axios: "If the president sees a deal is coming together, he'll probably hold off. But only he and he alone makes that decision." Markets read this as a meaningful signal that another deadline extension - and by extension, a path to de-escalation - remains on the table, prompting a sharp pullback from lows.

Sectoral picture - IT and Metal lead the charge
The recovery was broad-based, with sectoral indices painting a largely positive picture. Nifty IT led gains, up 1.41% to 31,067.55, benefiting from a softer dollar and easing global risk-off sentiment. Nifty Metal gained 1.30% to 11,733.85, Nifty Realty advanced 1.29% to 695.95, and Nifty Media rose 0.68% to 1,309.30. Nifty Pharma added 0.45%, Nifty Commodities gained 0.36%, Nifty India Defence was up 0.23%, and Nifty Healthcare inched up 0.07%. Nifty India Manufacturing added 0.05%. The across-the-board green in sectoral indices underscores how the geopolitical relief rally lifted most pockets of the market simultaneously.

Breadth strongly positive
Market breadth on the NSE reinforced the bullish recovery, with advances comfortably outpacing declines - 1,798 stocks advancing against 983 declining - a clear signal that the bounce was not confined to index heavyweights but was broad-based across the market. On the Sensex, pullers contributed 209.68 points while draggers weighed 311.59 points, resulting in a net drag of 101.91 - indicating the index's recovery is still a work in progress with a few heavyweights holding it back.

What to watch
Trump's 8 PM ET deadline translates to 5:30 AM IST on Wednesday, April 8 - a critical overnight event that will determine the direction of markets at Thursday's open. Any further extension or ceasefire signal could fuel a sharper gap-up, while a failure to reach a deal and resumption of strikes on Iranian infrastructure would likely reverse today's recovery swiftly. Traders are advised to manage overnight positions carefully into this binary event.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​