Sensex rises 200 points, Nifty above 24,100 amid Middle East jitters. What lies ahead?

Sensex rose over 200 points to 77,388 while Nifty 50 gained around 64 points to 24,142 during Thursday's session, with India VIX dropping 3.5% to 13.27. IT stocks led gains with HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and TCS rising 1-3%, while banking majors Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, SBI and HDFC Bank slipped. Geopolitical tensions from the Iran-US conflict around the Strait of Hormuz kept sentiment cautious, though oil prices eased with Brent below $85 and WTI below $80, while rupee was nearly flat at 96.2475 and FIIs net sold around Rs 736 crore on Wednesday.