New Delhi, 29 October (H.S.): Indian equity markets staged a strong recovery on Thursday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounding sharply from their early-session lows on the monthly expiry day for Sensex and Bankex derivatives. The US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged helped improve market sentiment, triggering broad-based buying after an initial bout of selling.
The Sensex recovered more than 984 points from its intraday low, while the Nifty surged nearly 305 points from its lowest level to reclaim the psychologically significant 22,900 mark. At the close, the Sensex was up 1.24 per cent, while the Nifty gained 1.05 per cent. The rally also boosted investors’ wealth by approximately Rs 3.86 lakh crore.
Amid weak cues from Asian markets, domestic equities opened on a subdued note, with both benchmark indices initially trading in negative territory. Mild selling pressure during the first hour weighed on market sentiment. However, the weakness proved short-lived as investors responded positively to the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
Aggressive buying in public sector banks, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and private-sector banking stocks helped the market reverse its early losses. The rally gathered momentum through the session, lifting both indices towards their respective intraday highs. The benchmarks sustained most of their gains during the final trading hour, despite intermittent attempts by investors to book profits.
The BSE Sensex opened at 73,268.47, up 22.44 points, or 0.03 per cent. Soon after the opening, selling pressure pushed the index down by 64.13 points to an intraday low of 73,181.90. Weakness in select heavyweight automobile and cement stocks contributed to the initial decline.
Buying interest subsequently strengthened, particularly in Adani Ports and Kotak Mahindra Bank, providing significant support to the benchmark. The Sensex rebounded by 984.26 points from its intraday low to touch a high of 74,166.16, gaining 920.13 points, or 1.26 per cent, at its peak.
The index maintained its upward momentum through the final hour before easing slightly from its high. It eventually settled at 74,151.04, up 905.01 points, or 1.24 per cent.
The NSE Nifty also began the session on a weak note, opening at 22,690.65, down 8.20 points, or 0.04 per cent. Initial selling dragged the index to an intraday low of 22,656.75.
However, strong buying in public sector banking and FMCG stocks triggered a sharp turnaround. The Nifty recovered 305.20 points from its low to reach an intraday high of 22,961.95, gaining 263.10 points, or 1.16 per cent, at its peak.
Buying interest remained firm throughout the session, preventing attempts at profit-booking from significantly eroding the gains. The index eventually closed at 22,936.75, up 237.90 points, or 1.05 per cent.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive, with almost all major indices ending in the green, except the automobile and cement indices. The Nifty PSU Bank and FMCG indices led the rally, each closing with gains of more than 2 per cent.
The Nifty Bank index also advanced 1.18 per cent amid monthly derivatives expiry-related activity. Information technology and private banking stocks, which had faced selling pressure in the previous session, recovered strongly and ended more than 1 per cent higher. The pharmaceutical, metal, oil and gas, and consumer durables indices also registered gains.
Buying extended beyond large-cap stocks, with mid-cap and small-cap shares participating in the recovery. The Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 0.99 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.95 per cent, reflecting broad-based strength across the market.
The rally significantly increased the total market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE. Their combined market value rose to Rs 4,77,40,034.21 crore at the close, compared with Rs 4,73,53,878.832 crore on Wednesday, the previous trading day. The increase of approximately Rs 3,86,155.38 crore translated into a substantial gain in investors’ aggregate wealth.
Market breadth on the BSE remained positive. A total of 4,588 stocks recorded active trading during the session, of which 2,654 advanced, 1,716 declined and 218 closed unchanged. As many as 93 stocks touched their respective 52-week highs, while 161 fell to their 52-week lows. Seventeen stocks hit the upper circuit, whereas 41 closed at their lower circuit limits.
The advance-decline ratio on the NSE also favoured advancing stocks, with 2,000 shares closing higher and 1,272 ending lower. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 26 finished in positive territory and four declined. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 40 advanced while 10 closed lower.
Adani Ports led the gainers among prominent stocks, rising 6.29 per cent. Adani Enterprises advanced 5.17 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 4.32 per cent, Eternal rose 3.63 per cent and Power Grid Corporation climbed 3.42 per cent.
On the losing side, Trent declined 1.79 per cent, Maruti Suzuki fell 1.32 per cent, Bajaj Auto shed 0.97 per cent, SBI Life Insurance slipped 0.88 per cent and Hindalco Industries lost 0.83 per cent.
The session’s broad-based recovery, supported by gains across banking, FMCG, IT and several other sectors, enabled domestic equities to overcome early selling pressure and close decisively higher.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
