Domestic benchmark indices rallied on Wednesday mainly due to strong global cues and improved investor sentiment, driven by rising expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cut, which has boosted risk appetite worldwide.
Positive movement in global and Asian markets has spilled over into domestic trading, while broad-based buying across sectors — including banks and metals — reflects renewed confidence.
Sensex rallied 850.49 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 85,437.50 by 12.13 pm, hovering close to its intraday high of 85,468.11 against the day’s open at 84,503.44. Nifty 50 climbed 272.40 points or 1.05 per cent to 26,157.20 (near the high of 26,161.20) after opening at 25,842.95.
Both the midcap and smallcap indices outperformed the broader market, rising more than 1 per cent. All sectoral indices were in the green, with banking and metal stocks leading the advance, while IT, realty, media, and oil & gas indices also posted gains of over 1 per cent.
During the session, Nifty Bank scaled to a record high of 59,515.30.
Commenting on the market movement, Pravesh Gour, Senior Technical Analyst at Swastika Investmart, said, the rally is also being supported by sector-specific buying, with gains seen across the board. Metal stocks and PSU banks are leading the move, supported by improving global commodity sentiment and selective value buying.
Top Nifty 50 gainers & losers intrday — Bharti Airtel only loser
Shares of JSW Steel, Adani Ports, HDFC Life, Bajaj Finance, Trent and Bajaj Finserv led the gainers of Nifty 50 components, while only Bharti Airtel traded in negative territory.
Out of 2,995 stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange at the time of writing, 2,253 advanced and 653 declined, and 89 remained unchanged. A total of 43 stocks hit their 52-week highs and 63 touched their 52-week lows.
Heavyweight stocks such as Reliance, MCX, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and SBI scaled to their 52-week highs.
In addition, 60 stocks scaled to hit the upper circuit, while 29 stocks fell to the lower circuit, reflecting stronger bullish activity across the broader market.
Banking stocks PNB, IndusInd, Canara Bank and Axis Bank rose by 2 per cent. IDFC First Bank, HDFC Bank and AU Small Finance were up 1 per cent.
HUDCO lead gainers of midcap index; Natco Pharma, RPower zooms under smallcap
HUDCO, SAIL, Paytm, Dixon Tech and Suzlon rose 3–4 per cent, topping the midcap gainers list, while M&M Financial, Coromandel International, Mphasis and Swiggy slipped into negative territory.
Under the smallcap segment, Natco Pharma and Reliance Power zoomed 6-7 per cent. Nuvama, PGEL, PNB Housing and MCX increased 3-5 per cent.
On the flip side, MRPL, CreditAccess, Lal Path Labs and Star Health declined 1-3 per cent.