Benchmark equity indices staged a strong recovery on Wednesday, led by a rally in banking stocks amid mixed global cues. The Sensex surged 790.54 points, or 1.04 per cent, to settle at 76,991.22, while the Nifty jumped 197.55 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 24,021.65. Among major Asian markets, Indian benchmarks emerged as the second-best performers after South Korea, whose benchmark index gained 3.26 per cent.
Comments by the RBI Governor on the repo rate outlook fuelled a rally in banking shares. Optimism surrounding the progress of US-India trade negotiations, coupled with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning net buyers of domestic equities in recent sessions, also supported market sentiment.
On Tuesday, the Sensex and Nifty had declined 1.16 per cent each as metal and IT stocks came under heavy selling pressure.
Technical Chart Patterns
“Markets rebounded sharply despite mixed global cues, as investors cheered reports of several stranded ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which was reflected in a sharp decline in crude oil prices,” said Ankur Punj, MD & Business Head at Equirus Wealth.
“The recovery was led by heavy buying in banking and IT stocks, even as most broader indices ended in the red, indicating that the underlying sentiment remains cautious,” Punj added.
“As expected, the index recovered sharply after finding support at the rising trendline on the hourly chart, resulting in a strong rebound that pushed the Nifty back above the 24,000 mark,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
“The index found support at the 20-day EMA during the last two trading sessions before moving higher,” he added.
Sectoral Divergence
Overall market breadth was marginally positive, with 2,218 gainers against 2,035 losers on the BSE. Investors’ wealth increased by Rs 1.36 lakh crore, taking the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies to Rs 476.45 lakh crore.
Underperforming the benchmarks, the broader BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap indices posted modest gains of 0.23 per cent and 0.17 per cent, respectively.
Realty, IT, private banks, financial services, and oil & gas emerged as the top sectoral gainers, while auto and metal stocks were among the major losers.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank together contributed 457 points, accounting for 58 per cent of the Sensex’s 790-point gain.
InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), Trent, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, and ICICI Bank were the top gainers among Sensex constituents, while NTPC, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, BEL, and Bharti Airtel were the top losers.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,843.40 crore ($195 million), while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 3,637.26 crore, according to provisional BSE data.
