Sensex jumps 600 points, Nifty reclaims 24,000
What's the story
The Indian stock market witnessed a recovery on Thursday, with the Sensex and Nifty gaining over 0.8% each. The rally came after Wednesday's massive sell-off that had erased over ₹8 lakh crore in investor wealth. Earlier in the session, Sensex was up by over 635 points at 77,139, while the Nifty climbed by some 195 points to reach 24,077.
Market overview
Market capitalization climbs to ₹477 lakh crore
The market rally added around ₹5.45 lakh crore to the total market capitalization of BSE-listed companies, taking it up to ₹477 lakh crore. Bharti Airtel, Eternal and Sun Pharma shares jumped by some 3% each to lead gains on the Sensex. Asian Paints, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries gained over 1% each while IT stocks such as Infosys and TCS declined by 1-2%.
Investor sentiment
India VIX cools after yesterday's sell-off
The renewed optimism was broad-based, with Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices gaining up to 2%. This came as India VIX, a measure of market volatility, crashed over 9% to 13.34 after skyrocketing by some 26% in the previous session. Sectorally, several indices including Nifty FMCG and Nifty Pharma gained by up to 2%. However, Nifty IT slipped into the red ahead of heavyweight TCS's Q1 earnings.
Market influences
Asian markets trade mixed
Japan's Nikkei surged some 2% as chip stocks rebounded while South Korea's Kospi slipped into the red with marginal losses after a massive 6% plunge yesterday. In the US market, S&P 500 ended lower but Nasdaq closed in the green. Foreign investors continued to remain bullish on Dalal Street, buying Indian equities for the sixth consecutive session despite Wednesday's market crash.
Currency stability
Rupee remained nearly unchanged against the US dollar
The rupee opened at 95.55 against the US dollar, nearly unchanged from its previous closing. Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities, said "Market participants will continue tracking developments in the US-Iran conflict, crude oil prices, and global risk sentiment for further direction." He added that technically, the rupee is expected to trade in a range of 95.20-95.80 in the near term with volatility likely to remain elevated.