The BSE Sensex rose 628 points to 77,538, while the Nifty gained 154 points to 24,232. The Nifty Bank index advanced 256 points to 57,496, while the Nifty Midcap index gained 263 points to 63,672.
Nearly 40 Nifty stocks closed in the green, with market breadth turning in favour of advances. The advance-decline ratio stood at 3:2.
1. Heavyweights drive Nifty higher
Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) were among the biggest contributors to the Nifty’s gains. Eternal emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising more than 2% on major volumes.
ALSO READ | Balrampur Chini shares see biggest single-day gain in 18 years, hit record high — Here’s why
2. Auto stocks recover
Auto stocks recovered from their lows to finish largely higher, with Maruti Suzuki emerging as the top gainer in the segment.
3. Midcap IT continues to outperform
The outperformance in midcap information technology stocks continued, with Coforge and Persistent Systems gaining around 3% each.
4. Gold-linked stocks surge
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and Muthoot Finance surged following a spike in gold prices, with both stocks gaining between 4% and 5%.
5. Sector-specific moves shape the session
Premier gained 4% after giving a healthy outlook for FY28. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals rose 3% after releasing its FY29 and FY31 targets at its Investor Day. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) ended 2% higher after the stock came out of the futures and options (F&O) ban.
ALSO READ | The biggest upgrades and downgrades by Jefferies during the Q1 results season
On the other hand, Hindalco Industries ended as the top Nifty loser despite an upside move in aluminium prices. Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and REC slipped by up to 3% following downgrades by Morgan Stanley.
Defence stocks declined for the second straight session, with Bharat Dynamics emerging as the top loser, down 3%. Sugar stocks extended their gaining streak, with stocks rising up to 20% on higher prices.
From the Sensex basket, Eternal Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, Shriram Finance Ltd, ITC Ltd and Cipla Ltd were the major gainers. Hindalco Industries Ltd, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, Nestle India Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Grasim Industries Ltd were the biggest laggards.
ALSO READ | BSE shares up 2% on pact to launch of MSCI-linked index derivatives in India
Jigar Mistry, Co-Founder, Buoyant Capital, on markets, said, “We are seeing a reasonably decent quarterly performance in terms of results. If you strip out the OMC losses, in fact, we are sitting at a pretty good result across the board: large caps, better so in mid-caps, and in small caps as well.
Our assessment of this is, essentially, that you are creating an air pocket. So, if I take you back in time, because such a large economic impulse moved away from capex to consumption, our assessment is that 1.7% of GDP got transferred into the hands of people.
And when you try and reorient the economy, it takes time for the economy to adjust, and the listed space to show that. I think we are finally coming around to a place where the listed space is seeing the benefits of that. So, we see, you know, adjusted for oil, you are likely to see this continue.”
Deven Choksey, MD, DRChoksey Finserv Private Ltd, on Bajaj Housing Finance, said, “I think some companies like, say, Bajaj Housing Finance, which remains, I think, a more acceptable kind of deep-value investment approach when one has it in a portfolio. This remains, I think, a more acceptable kind of stock in the portfolio.
The company is growing probably three times faster compared to the other players in the industry, the larger players in the industry, with a not-so-small AUM book. I think they are already at a ₹1.5 lakh crore kind of AUM in housing finance, and it has typically created a niche within housing finance, wherein they operate four different verticals within housing finance.
One, of course, being the EMI vertical, where the mortgage business happens. But more than that, the LAP business is one, the development finance business is another, and LRD, that is, the lease rental discounting business, is the third.
So, these businesses include, I think, a higher potential to generate a better amount of NIM for this particular company, and at a growth rate of around 22% to 24% or 25%, I think this company promises to double the size of the book in three and a half to four years’ time.
ALSO READ | IIFL sees capital goods margins recovering as order books grow
So, from that perspective, we like this company, though slightly premium-valued. But generally, Bajaj Group companies would be premium-valued, and that’s where, probably, I think, one can find deep value if one is invested for about three years or so.”
