By Our Business Correspondent
Domestic equity benchmarks rebounded on Thursday, snapping a two-session losing streak, as improving global sentiment, renewed foreign institutional investor (FII) buying and easing geopolitical concerns triggered broad-based buying across sectors. Optimism ahead of the June quarter earnings season further supported investor confidence, while broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices.
The BSE Sensex rose 238.22 points (0.31%) to close at 76,741.82, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 80.75 points (0.34%) to settle at 23,962.80, reclaiming the 23,950 level. The recovery came after benchmark indices had fallen more than 2.2 per cent over the previous two trading sessions.
Investor sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump indicated that a renewed conflict with Iran was unlikely, easing concerns over prolonged disruptions to global energy supplies. The market also drew support from a stable rupee, continued FII inflows and expectations of healthy corporate earnings for the first quarter of FY27.
Broader markets significantly outperformed frontline indices, with the BSE MidCap Index climbing 1.41 per cent and the SmallCap Index advancing 1.69 per cent, reflecting strong risk appetite beyond large-cap stocks.
Sectorally, PSU banks, consumer durables and select pharmaceutical counters led the gains, while information technology and automobile stocks remained under pressure.
Among the Nifty constituents, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries emerged as the top gainer, rising 2.78 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel (+2.49 per cent) and HDFC Bank (+0.83 per cent). On the downside, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was the biggest loser, plunging 5.77 per cent after the company delayed commercial supplies of certain batches of its semaglutide product following quality-related issues with the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Weakness also persisted in select IT and auto shares.
Market breadth remained firmly positive, with 2,896 stocks advancing against 1,342 declines on the BSE, while 190 shares remained unchanged. The India VIX, which measures expected market volatility, dropped nearly 9 per cent to 13.36, indicating easing risk perception among investors.
Among notable corporate developments, Premier Energies gained 4.42 per cent after inaugurating a new solar module manufacturing facility in Telangana, while The Phoenix Mills rose 3.34 per cent on robust quarterly operational performance. Insolation Energy surged 11.80 per cent after securing a ₹558.29-crore order from NTPC Renewable Energy. Rajesh Power Services advanced 3.76 per cent on a ₹653.12-crore turnkey contract from Paschim Gujarat Vij Company, and IRB Infrastructure Developers climbed 1.40 per cent after reporting a 28 per cent year-on-year rise in June toll collections.
IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) ended nearly flat, up 0.07 per cent, after reporting a 13.9 per cent year-on-year increase in first-quarter revenue to ₹72,275 crore and announcing an interim dividend of ₹12 per share. However, investors remained cautious as the company’s total contract value (TCV) declined to $9.5 billion from $12 billion in the previous quarter.
In the broader financial markets, Brent crude rose 0.56 per cent to $78.46 a barrel, while MCX Gold futures gained 0.51 per cent to ₹1,44,449 per 10 grams. The rupee remained largely stable at 95.41 per US dollar, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond eased to around 6.75 per cent.
Global markets traded higher across most of Asia and Europe despite softer-than-expected Chinese inflation data, which reinforced expectations of additional policy support from Beijing. Overnight, however, Wall Street closed lower as investors booked profits in technology and artificial intelligence-linked stocks amid rising oil prices.
In the primary market, the Kusumgar IPO witnessed robust investor demand, receiving subscriptions of 12.71 times by the second day of bidding. In contrast, the Laser Power & Infra public issue remained subdued, attracting subscriptions of just 0.15 times on its opening day.
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