The Indian stock market extended its recovery trend in Wednesday’s trade, September 23, with the headline indices surging nearly 0.50%, as falling crude oil prices boosted sentiment, while US signaled progress in diplomatic effortsto end the war with Iran also aided market sentiment.
The markets opened the session higher and continued to remain in positive territory through the close, as heavy buying in metals and select financial stocks offered much-needed support, offsetting weakness in technology stocks.
Indian stock market today
The Nifty 50 closed 0.50% higher at 23,446, while the Sensex advanced 0.40% to 74,828. The broader markets closed with even bigger gains, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index surging 0.70% and the Nifty Smallcap index gaining 0.90%.
Among sectoral indices, metals led the rally, tracking gains in global metal prices amid supply concerns and resilient demand, especially from top consumer China. Financial stocks closed higher after UBS said the CRIF Bureau’s August early delinquency data showed that asset quality was stable to improving across most retail loan categories.
Nifty IT was the sole sectoral decliner, weighed down by demand and earnings concerns, even as AI-heavy Asian technology markets advanced.
Turning to the commodity market, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 0.6% at $98.68 per barrel, as markets assessed efforts to restore oil flows disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East.
While US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that he could “annihilate” Iran, he also said his envoys had held productive talks with Iranian mediators to end their nearly seven-month-old war.
Kospi, Hang Seng, Dow Jones: Where could the indices head next?
Among other Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9% to 7,080.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.1% to 24,821.84.
The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.4% to 3,936.52. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 8,765.30. Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.8% higher, while India’s Sensex was up 0.5%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed on Wednesday for a holiday and will resume trading on Thursday.
Vipin Kumar, AVP-Research at Globe Capital Market, said the Kospi index continued its sideways trend near the upper resistance level (7,220 spot) of its month-long congestion range. A decisive close above 7,220 is essential for a directional move towards the 7,700–7,800 spot levels.
On the Hang Seng index, Vipin Kumar highlighted that the index ended lower after a decline of around 1% from its previous close. The current chart structure indicates the probability of a sideways move with a slightly negative bias within the 24,350–25,250 spot zone.
On the Dow Jones index, Vipin Kumar said that following a gap-up opening, the index settled slightly lower after failing to hold above resistance at the 52,200 spot level. Moving forward, a breakout above the 52,350-spot level holds the key to a further upward move towards 53,000; downside support remains around the 51,100–51,300 spot levels.
Nifty 50 outlook: Can bulls sustain the rebound above 23,500?
Ajit Mishra, SVP – Research at Religare Broking, mentioned that bulls are attempting to reclaim some of the ground lost during the six-week-long correction, although the pace of recovery remains capped by a mixed trend among key heavyweights.
He noted that the 23,600 level remains the key hurdle, while a break below 23,300 could once again derail the recovery. The performance of the banking sector is likely to play a critical role in determining the sustainability of the rebound. “Meanwhile, a selective and hedged approach remains preferable amid persistent FII outflows and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty,” he added.
Vipin Kumar said the benchmark Nifty index settled slightly higher in an otherwise lackluster trading session where neither bulls nor bears were able to drive the market in their direction. The upside seems capped as long as the index trades below the 23,500–23,600 spot zone on a closing basis.
A decisive fall below the 23,300-spot level could drag it back to the 23,000–23,100 support zone in the near term.
“A sustained close above 23,500 could extend the rebound towards 23,600–23,700, while another rejection from this zone would reinforce the prevailing trading range,” said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
