For two sessions India stood inside a burning building and would not flinch. Monday a global rout still left us down barely one percent. Tuesday the fire alarm switched off mid-morning, and the banks came through the smoke like the cavalry. It was Nifty weekly expiry, the morning slid to 23,104, and then the banking pack ripped.

Nifty closed 23,242, up 119 points, up half a percent, a 138-point V-shape off the low. Sensex closed 73,919, up 394. The bank index jumped over two percent, the public sector banks three point six. State Bank, ICICI, Axis and Bajaj Finance all up around two percent. Only IT stayed red. And India VIX, the fear gauge, collapsed eight and a half percent to 15.58, one of the lowest readings of the year.

The driver was one word: oil. The Middle East ceasefire held, the missiles stayed grounded, and crude that spik ...