After a listless first half, benchmark indices rose sharply in the second half of Thursday, riding on hopes — fuelled by US President Donald Trump’s remarks — that India and the US have reached a potential trade agreement.
The Sensex soared 1,200.18 points (1.48%) to close at 82,530.74, while the Nifty surged 395.20 points (1.60%), reclaiming the 25,000 peak after a gap of seven months, and closed at 25,062.10. The sharp recovery was fuelled by aggressive buying across key sectors such as metals, automobiles, information technology, and real estate.
“While benchmark indices gyrated sharply in early trades, they quickly regained lost momentum and rallied sharply thereafter on the back of all-around buying support, despite pessimism in European and other Asian bourses. The Nifty closing above the 25,000-mark will be a huge boost for traders,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president (research), Mehta Equities.
He added that with India-Pakistan tensions easing and hopes of a favourable tariff policy between the US and the two Asian giants (India & China) in the near term, equity markets could see further traction. However, he also cautioned that intra-day volatility risks remain high.
Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The market staged a robust rebound, closing with substantial gains, driven by a decline in domestic inflation and positive signals from the US on a potential trade deal with India. The benchmark index outperformed the broader market, buoyed by growing optimism around reduced operational costs and the prospect of a more accommodative monetary policy stance.”
Rate-sensitive sectors such as automobiles and real estate led the rally, supported by upbeat industry forecasts. Investor focus is now turning to the upcoming speech by the Federal Reserve chair, which is expected to provide clarity on the future policy trajectory, especially in light of the recent easing in US inflation data, Nair added.
Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers on Thursday and bought shares worth Rs 5,392.94 crore, while domestic institutional investors were net sellers and sold shares worth Rs 1,668.47 crore, as per provisional data by the BSE.
The broader indices, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap, gained 0.67% and 0.94%, respectively. Market breadth was firmly positive, with 2,615 gainers against 1,350 losers. Investors’ wealth rose by Rs 5.22 lakh crore, as BSE’s total market capitalisation increased to Rs 440.2 lakh crore.
All sectoral indices on both the BSE and the NSE ended in the green. Realty, auto, services, industrials, and metals were the top performers, rising up to 1.87% on the BSE.
Except for IndusInd Bank (down 0.16%), all Sensex and Nifty stocks ended in the green. Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Adani Ports, Eicher Motors, and Maruti Suzuki were the top gainers on the Sensex, advancing up to 4.16%.