Mumbai, Nov 19: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back sharply on Wednesday, driven by a rally in IT and financial shares and sustained buying by domestic institutional investors amid growing hopes for an India-US trade deal.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 513.45 points, or 0.61 per cent, to settle at 85,186.47. During the day, the benchmark surged 563.75 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 85,236.77.
The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 142.60 points, or 0.55 per cent, to close near the day’s high at 26,052.65. The index hit a high of 26,074.65 in the day trade.
From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma and Titan were among the biggest gainers.
In contrast, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Maruti, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.
Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said “you will hear good news” on the proposed trade pact between India and the US once the deal is fair, equitable and balanced.
Equity benchmarks rebounded on Wednesday after Tuesday’s pause, supported largely by strong buying in IT stocks, Gaurav Garg, Research Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
“The rally was led by IT names such as Infosys and HCL Technologies, with sentiment improving after Infosys announced its Rs 18,000-crore share buyback starting November 20. Expectations surrounding a potential India–US trade agreement also lifted sentiment, while a global shift away from AI-heavy bets steered more flows toward emerging markets like India,” Garg added.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said that the IT sector rallied on revived hopes of a Fed rate cut, supported by soft U.S. labour data and currency tailwinds, while PSU banks gained on merger-related news and improving fundamentals. Attention now turns to tomorrow’s FOMC minutes for further policy signals.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index settled lower. In contrast, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index ended in the green.
Markets in Europe were trading mostly lower in mid-session deals.
US markets ended in negative territory on Tuesday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 728.82 crore on Tuesday. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 6,156.83 crore, according to exchange data.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.39 per cent to USD 64.64 per barrel.
On Tuesday, the Sensex declined 277.93 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 84,673.02. The Nifty dipped 103.40 points or 0.40 per cent to 25,910.05.
