Amid broad-based buying, the Indian stock market closed Wednesday’s session with solid gains, recovering much of the previous day’s losses. Financial stocks led the rally, while a rebound in technology shares provided much-needed relief to Dalal Street.
The Nifty 50 jumped 0.83% to close at 24,021, while the Sensex gained 1% to settle at 76,991. The broader markets also mirrored the positive trend but underperformed the benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices posting comparatively modest gains.
All major sectoral indices ended in the green, barring the Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal indices.
Sentiment towards domestic equities improved amid growing expectations of a more permanent peace deal in the Middle East, which kept crude oil prices lower. Brent crude fell below pre-war levels, benefiting oil-sensitive sectors such as oil marketing companies, paints, and chemicals.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra told ET Now on Wednesday that it was premature to discuss domestic rate hikes, as the central bank had not yet seen signs of inflation becoming broad-based, Reuters reported.
His comments reinforced expectations that borrowing costs could remain lower for longer, supporting corporate earnings, consumer demand, and equity valuations. Additionally, the rebound in global technology stocks following a brutal sell-off in the previous session also lifted market sentiment.
Textile, banking and realty stocks lead the rally
Textile stocks witnessed heavy buying after brokerage firm Motilal Oswal turned bullish on the sector, noting that the global textile and apparel industry is gradually emerging from a prolonged period of weakness.
Shares of SP Apparels, Pearl Global Industries, Indo Count Industries, KPR Mill, Arvind, Welspun Living, Trident, and Faze Three closed with gains ranging between 5% and 17%.
Banking heavyweights ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and IndusInd Bank also supported the market rally, closing higher by 2.7%, 2.5%, and 2.4%, respectively.
Expectations that domestic interest rates could remain lower for longer also triggered a strong rally in realty stocks, with all constituents of the Nifty Realty index ending in the green. Brigade Enterprises, Phoenix Mills, Lodha Developers, Oberoi Realty, and Sobha were among the top gainers, rising between 2% and 4.4%.
Oil-sensitive stocks such as HPCL, BPCL, IOCL, IndiGo, and Himadri Specialty Chemicals also closed in the green, aided by the decline in crude oil prices.
In the auto pack, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles emerged as the top performer, surging 3.4% after brokerages turned increasingly positive on the stock. Analysts cited improving business momentum, an aggressive market-share roadmap, and potential long-term gains from the proposed Iveco deal.
Other stocks, including Pine Labs, JSW Infrastructure, Syrma SGS Technology, Shree Cement, and Brainbees Solutions, closed with gains ranging between 3.8% and 7.5%.
IRFC, capital goods stocks lead the decline
Among the top laggards, IRFC led the losses, falling 7% to ₹91.90 apiece.
Major capital goods stocks, including GE Vernova T&D India, Hitachi Energy India, Siemens, Cummins India, and ABB India, also witnessed heavy selling pressure, declining between 3% and 7%.
Other stocks such as Zen Technologies, PhysicsWallah, KEI Industries, Bajaj Auto, Bata India, Engineers India, Schaeffler India, and Reliance Power also fell more than 2.5%.
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