New Delhi, 27 July (H.S.):

The Indian stock market witnessed a strong recovery on Monday after a five-day losing streak, as the halt in hostilities between the United States and Iran in West Asia boosted investor sentiment. Domestic benchmark indices closed with significant gains, snapping their continuous decline amid renewed buying interest.

The market opened on a positive note and witnessed mild fluctuations until around 11 am. However, aggressive buying by investors in the later part of the session pushed both the Sensex and Nifty higher. At the end of the trading session, the BSE Sensex closed with a gain of 1.02 per cent, while the NSE Nifty ended 0.96 per cent higher.

The BSE Sensex opened at 76,608.98 points, gaining 549.21 points or 0.72 per cent. During the initial hours of trading, the index moved within a narrow range due to a tussle between buyers and sellers. However, buying momentum strengthened shortly before 11 am, lifting the index sharply.

Supported by continuous buying, the Sensex surged 841.74 points or 1.11 per cent to reach an intraday high of 76,901.51 points. However, minor profit booking towards the closing hours pulled the index slightly lower from its peak. The Sensex finally settled 776.01 points higher at 76,835.78 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 160.95 points or 0.68 per cent higher at 23,928.40 points. The index remained volatile during the first two hours of trade and briefly slipped to 23,891.55 points due to selling pressure. However, after 10:30 am, strong buying activity helped the index gain momentum.

The Nifty climbed 244.15 points or 1.03 per cent to touch an intraday high of 24,011.60 points around 2:30 pm. Later, minor selling during the final settlement period dragged the index slightly lower, but it still closed with a gain of 228.50 points at 23,995.95 points.

Most sectoral indices traded in positive territory throughout the day. Media stocks emerged as the top performers, with the Nifty Media index rising up to 2.50 per cent. Shares from the IT, real estate, automobile and pharmaceutical sectors also witnessed strong buying interest during the session.

Other sectors, including FMCG, banking, infrastructure, metals, consumer durables, capital goods and public sector enterprises, also ended the day in the green. The oil and gas sector was the only major segment that remained under selling pressure.

The broader market also witnessed sustained buying, with the Nifty Midcap index closing 1.11 per cent higher and the Smallcap index ending with a gain of 1.31 per cent.

The sharp recovery in the stock market increased investors’ wealth by more than Rs 5 lakh crore. The market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE rose to Rs 480.82 lakh crore (provisional) after Monday’s trading, compared with Rs 475.62 lakh crore at the close of trading on Friday. This resulted in a gain of around Rs 5.20 lakh crore for investors in a single session.

During the day’s trading, 4,558 stocks were actively traded on the BSE. Of these, 2,779 shares closed higher, 1,579 declined, and 200 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,015 stocks witnessed active trading, with 2,058 ending in the green and 957 closing lower.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 28 stocks ended with gains, while two declined. In the Nifty 50 index, 44 stocks closed higher and six ended in the red.

Among the major stocks, Eternal gained 5.66 per cent, InterGlobe Aviation rose 4.91 per cent, Infosys climbed 3.68 per cent, Bajaj Finance advanced 3.51 per cent and Shriram Finance increased 3.29 per cent, making them the top five gainers of the day.

On the other hand, ONGC declined 4.10 per cent, HDFC Bank fell 0.44 per cent, HDFC Life slipped 0.40 per cent, Cipla dropped 0.09 per cent and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories eased 0.08 per cent, emerging among the top five losers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar