New Delhi, 15 April (H.S.)

Domestic stock markets once again showed very strong strength today. Today’s trading opened on a positive note with both major indices advancing from the first bell. Although the market witnessed intermittent profit‑booking during the session, the underlying strength of both the Sensex and the Nifty remained intact throughout the day.

Despite temporary bouts of selling pressure triggered by profit‑booking, the Sensex continued to trade with a robust positive bias of over 1,000 points. Likewise, the Nifty also held a steady upside of more than 300 points. After the end of the full trading session, the Sensex closed 1.64 per cent higher and the Nifty ended 1.63 per cent up.

Market sentiment improved sharply today on the hope that peace talks between the United States and Iran may resume in West Asia. As a result, global crude oil prices softened, while the Indian rupee strengthened against the dollar. These factors combined to sustain a bullish mood in the markets all day, which helped the Sensex and the Nifty to close with strong gains.

Across the board, all sectoral indices traded in the green today. Heavy buying in stocks of the IT, capital goods, consumer durables, oil and gas, public sector enterprises, infrastructure, realty, and media sectors pushed their respective indices higher by more than around two per cent. In addition, the banking, automobile, FMCG, healthcare, metals, and technology indices also closed more than one per cent higher.

Even in the broader market, buying remained persistent, with the Nifty Midcap Index closing up 2.20 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap Index surging 2.35 per cent, reflecting strong risk appetite among investors.

The sharp strength in the equity market today translated into a substantial wealth gain for investors, with their total portfolio value rising by over ₹9 lakh crore.

After today’s session, the combined market capitalisation of BSE‑listed companies climbed to ₹458.25 lakh crore (provisional), up from ₹449.14 lakh crore at the end of the previous trading session, which effectively added about ₹9.11 lakh crore to investor wealth in a single day.

During the entire trading session, 4,513 scrips were actively traded on the BSE. Of these, 3,585 stocks closed higher, 802 ended with losses, and 126 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,007 stocks saw active trading, with 2,656 advancing and 351 retreating.

Among the 30 constituents of the Sensex, 28 closed higher and only 2 ended in the red. Of the 50 components of the Nifty, 47 gained while 3 slipped.

The BSE’s Sensex opened at 77,981.10, up 1,133.53 points. Within minutes of the opening, it surged another 1,422.85 points to reach 78,270.42. This sharp rally, however, did not last too long. Soon, profit‑booking set in and selling pressure emerged, causing a mild dip in the index.

Thereafter, the Sensex continued to trade within a relatively narrow band, fluctuating just above the 77,000–78,000 zone. At one point, it slipped to 77,849.52 as selling spread. The reassuring aspect was that even amid these pullbacks, the Sensex never lost its 1,000‑point cushion of positive bias. Eventually, the index closed the day 1,263.67 points higher at 78,111.24.

Mirroring this move, the Nifty on the NSE began the day by leaping 321.15 points to 24,163.80. Within minutes, it jumped a further 438.25 points from its opening level to 24,280.90. Profit‑booking then triggered a brief dip, pulling the index down to 24,145.80.

However, even after multiple corrections, the Nifty managed to hold a positive bias of more than 300 points for most of the session. At the close, it ended 388.65 points higher at 24,231.30, registering a 1.63 per cent gain.

Among large‑cap stocks, InterGlobe Aviation, AETERNA, Max Healthcare, Power Grid Corporation, and TPV emerged among the top gainers, rising 4.76 per cent, 4.42 per cent, 4.03 per cent, 4.03 per cent, and 3.59 per cent, respectively. On the other side, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank were among the top laggards, closing 1.46 per cent, 0.81 per cent, and 0.22 per cent lower, respectively.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar