Stock markets rebounded on Friday, with benchmark indices ending in positive territory after buying interest in heavyweight banking stocks and supportive global cues lifted investor sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 231.99 points, or 0.31 per cent, to close at 75,415.35. During intraday trade, the index had climbed as much as 627.61 points, or 0.83 per cent, to touch 75,810.97 before giving up some gains towards the close.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 64.60 points, or 0.27 per cent, to settle at 23,719.30, reflecting a cautious but positive mood across the market. Analysts attributed the uptrend to sustained buying in financial stocks and improving global sentiment, aided by hopes of progress in US-Iran peace negotiations. Market participants said easing geopolitical concerns contributed to risk-on sentiment in equities.
Among Sensex constituents, major gainers included Trent, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance, which led the recovery on the back of strong institutional buying in large-cap financial and consumer stocks.
On the other hand, stocks such as Sun Pharma, ITC, Power Grid and Bharat Electronics ended the session in the red, weighing slightly on the overall gains.
Commenting on market trends, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said domestic equities traded with a mild positive bias supported by buying at lower levels and improving global cues, particularly expectations of reduced tensions in the Middle East. He noted that while global sentiment was driven by the artificial intelligence investment theme, domestic markets were primarily supported by financial stocks.
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Broader market indices showed mixed performance. The BSE MidCap Select index gained 0.30 per cent, while the SmallCap Select index declined 0.60 per cent, indicating selective buying in mid-cap counters and profit booking in smaller stocks.
Sectorally, private banks led the rally with a gain of 1.35 per cent, followed by the Top 10 Banks index, which rose 1.23 per cent. The Bankex index advanced 1.18 per cent, while the telecom sector gained 0.93 per cent and financial services rose 0.90 per cent.
In contrast, the healthcare space underperformed, with the hospitals index falling 1.39 per cent and the broader healthcare index slipping 1.23 per cent. IT, focused IT, power and energy sectors also ended marginally lower.
Market breadth remained slightly positive on the BSE, where 2,213 stocks advanced, 1,971 declined, and 179 remained unchanged. Nair further added that markets continue to remain range-bound, with strong domestic institutional investor inflows cushioning downside risks while persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) selling limits upside momentum. He said the market is currently witnessing a “buy on dips and sell on rallies” pattern.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex gained 177.36 points, or 0.23 per cent, while the Nifty advanced 75.8 points, or 0.32 per cent, indicating a modest overall positive trend. In commodities, Brent crude oil rose 2.3 per cent to USD 104.7 per barrel, reflecting volatility in global energy markets.
Across Asia, key indices including South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, China’s Shanghai SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed higher. European markets were also trading in positive territory, while US markets had ended higher in the previous session.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to remain net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 1,891.21 crore in the previous trading session, according to exchange data.
On Thursday, markets had ended slightly lower, with the Sensex falling 135.03 points to 75,183.36 and the Nifty slipping marginally by 4.30 points to close at 23,654.70.
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