New Delhi, 02 April (H.S.): India’s domestic equity markets staged a smart intraday recovery in the second half of the session after a sharp morning sell‑off, underpinned by broad‑based buying. The benchmark indices opened the day lower, with strong profit‑booking dragging the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 down by over two percent in early trade.
However, sentiment improved in the second half, triggering a broad‑based buying spree that helped the Sensex recover more than 2,000 points from its intraday low and the Nifty jump nearly 600 points from its trough.
By the end of the session, the Sensex closed 0.25% higher and the Nifty ended 0.15% firmer, turning around from deep red to a positive print.
Sector‑wise performance
IT stocks led the rally, with the Nifty IT index closing 2.60% higher despite a volatile day. The banking, capital goods, FMCG, metals and tech indices also finished in the green, supported by late‑session buying.
In contrast, the auto, consumer durables, healthcare, public‑sector enterprise and oil & gas indices ended in the red, dragged by profit‑booking and weakness in select large‑caps.
Mid‑ and small‑caps
The broader market mirrored the benchmarks, with stocks staging a sharp rebound from intraday lows before losing some ground toward the close. The Nifty Midcap 100 index recovered 2.30% from its trough but ended 0.26% lower on the day, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index also bounced from its low but closed 0.38% down.
Wealth creation and market cap
The intraday rally boosted investor wealth by roughly ₹15,000 crore. The combined market capitalisation of BSE‑listed companies rose to ₹422.16 lakh crore (₹42.216 trillion) after the session, up from ₹422.01 lakh crore at Wednesday’s close.
Breadth of the move
On the BSE, 4,387 scrips saw active trading, with 2,663 stocks closing higher and 1,563 in the red; 159 scripts ended flat. On the NSE, 2,979 stocks traded, of which 1,881 ended higher and 1,098 finished lower. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 18 advanced and 12 declined, while 27 of the 50 Nifty stocks ended higher and 23 lower.
Sensex and Nifty intraday journey
The Sensex opened at 72,262.05, down 872.27 points. Strong early‑session selling pressure took it down to 71,545.81 (‑1,588.51 points) around mid‑morning. Buoyed by fresh buying, the index then recovered 2,022.73 points from its low to 73,568.54 about 20 minutes before the close. Late‑session profit‑taking trimmed gains slightly, and the Sensex finally settled 185.23 points higher at 73,319.55.
Similarly, the Nifty started at 22,383.40, down 296 points, and slipped to 22,182.55 (‑496.85 points) within the first one‑and‑a‑half hours. From there, continuous buying lifted the index 599.75 points from its low to 22,782.30. Portfolio‑rebalancing and expiry‑related selling trimmed gains toward the close, and the Nifty ended 33.70 points higher at 22,713.10.
Top gainers and losers
Among heavyweight stocks, HCL Technologies (+3.53%), Tech Mahindra (+2.63%), Infosys (+1.97%), Wipro (+1.95%) and Tata Consumer Products (+1.78%) emerged as the top gainers. On the flip side, Ashok Leyland (‑2.58%), Asian Paints (‑2.55%), Atbara (‑2.03%), Sun Pharmaceutical (‑2.02%) and Bajaj Auto (‑1.54%) were among the leading losers of the day.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
