Markets stage sharp recovery after five days of fall; Sensex climbs 500 points

Mumbai, Dec 23: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded sharply on Monday after five days of steep decline amid value buying at lower levels and a supportive trend in global markets.

Besides, bargain hunting in blue chip stocks like ITC, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries added to the optimism in the equity market, traders said.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 498.58 points or 0.64 per cent to settle at 78,540.17. During the day, it soared 876.53 points or 1.12 per cent to 78,918.12.

The NSE Nifty surged 165.95 points or 0.70 per cent to 23,753.45.

"The Indian market demonstrated optimism following the recent sell-off. The lower-than-expected US PCE print bolstered investor sentiment in interest rate-sensitive sectors. Broad-based buying was observed, with the metals sector notably benefiting from the anticipated increase in steel import taxes.

"Despite the positive market sentiment, the short-term outlook is expected to remain sideways due to a lack of new catalysts and the impact of the festive season and holidays," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

From the 30 blue-chip stocks, ITC, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Titan, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers.

New entrant Zomato, Maruti, Nestle, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv and Tata Motors were among the laggards.

The BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.10 per cent, while smallcap index declined 0.60 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, realty jumped 1.39 per cent, bankex (1 per cent), metal (0.84 per cent), oil & gas (0.83 per cent), FMCG (0.75 per cent), energy (0.67 per cent) and services (0.64 per cent).

In contrast, consumer discretionary, industrials, telecommunication, and auto were the laggards.

"Indian equity markets rebounded on Monday, snapping a five-day losing streak...This recovery was driven by gains in financial and IT sectors, with HDFC Bank shares rising nearly 2 per cent. The positive sentiment was influenced by softer US inflation data, which buoyed regional markets.

"Investors are now focusing on the Reserve Bank of India’s forthcoming monetary policy and the Union Budget 2025, anticipating policy measures that could further support economic growth and market stability. Over the next few days, trading volumes are expected to be thin due to this being a holiday-shortened week," Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory, PL Capital - Prabhudas Lilladher, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Shanghai ended lower.

European markets were trading mostly lower. Wall Street ended higher on Friday.

In the past five sessions last week, the BSE benchmark tanked 4,091.53 points or 4.98 per cent, and the Nifty slumped 1,180.8 points or 4.76 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,597.82 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.44 per cent to USD 73.26 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE benchmark tumbled 1,176.46 points or 1.49 per cent to settle at 78,041.59 on Friday. The Nifty tanked 364.20 points or 1.52 per cent to 23,587.50.