Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma were the biggest contributors to the Nifty’s gains. The Nifty Bank index climbed 510 points to 57,252, while the Midcap index outperformed, rising 844 points to 62,167. Market breadth remained strong, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 3:1 in favour of advancing stocks.
Here are the key factors that drove the market:Midcaps outperform amid broad-based buying
Broader markets outpaced the benchmarks, with the Midcap index gaining 844 points. Advancing stocks comfortably outnumbered declines, pointing to widespread buying across sectors.
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Policy moves lift select manufacturing stocks
Exide Industries and Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies gained up to 4% after the government exempted customs duty on inputs used for lithium-ion cell manufacturing. Dixon Technologies and Amber Enterprises also rose up to 4% after customs duty exemption on inputs for display assembly manufacturing.
Sector and stock-specific action dominates
Downstream oil companies rallied while upstream oil companies declined after Brent crude slipped below $78 per barrel. Kalyan Jewellers extended Wednesday’s rally, surging more than 17%.
In the midcap space, Kalyan Jewellers, Dixon Technologies, Premier Explosives and Bharti Hexacom emerged among the top gainers. Insolation Energy jumped 12% after securing an order worth ₹558 crore from NTPC Renewable Energy.
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Among laggards, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories fell 6% after delaying commercial production of semaglutide due to an API issue. The Nifty IT index ended lower for the second consecutive session, with Infosys falling 2%. TCS also closed lower ahead of its first-quarter results.
From the Sensex basket, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Eternal Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, Bajaj Finserv Ltd and Grasim Industries Ltd were the major gainers.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Infosys Ltd, NTPC Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd and Eicher Motors Ltd were the biggest laggards.
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Pramod Gubbi, co-founder of Marcellus Investment Managers, on IT sector, said, “We do not have any IT services names in the portfolio as of now. I think valuations have become really attractive, but the big question mark in terms of the real disruption from AI is still unknown.
Part of what we’ve maintained is the deflationary effect in the near term, which is clearly playing out. But what we’re trying to see is whether there is a new stream of work coming their way because, at the end of the day, I don’t think enterprises can do this job on their own.
You can’t simply install Claude and expect it to run ERP and CRM systems. There should be new work coming their way, but I think it’s still very early days. Not many people fully understand how effective AI is in terms of improving productivity and so on.”
