Sensex up 1,200 points as investor wealth swells by Rs 5 lakh crore; Nifty reclaims 25,050

Domestic stocks registered a strong uptick on Thursday, supported by gains across all sectoral indices. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack has risen by 1,200.18 points, a 1.48 per cent increase, reaching a level of 82,530.74 while the broader NSE Nifty index closed at 25,062.10, up 395.20 points, marking a 1.60 per cent gain for the session. Buying interest in select heavyweights such as Reliance Industries Ltd, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, HCLTechnologies, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) lifted the indices higher.

Fear index India VIX slipped 1.93 per cent points to 16.89, suggesting a drop in perceived market volatility. The index measures expected market volatility based on Nifty50 index options contracts. A fall in India VIX indicates investors anticipate lower uncertainty or risk over the short term (30 days).

Investors cheered signs of progress in the ongoing trade discussions between the United States (US) and India. The indices turned positive after news agency Bloomberg reported that US President Donald Trump said India has offered a trade deal that would bring "basically zero tariffs" on a wide range of American goods. Trump made the comment in Doha on Wednesday during his West Asia tour.

Such was the rise in domestic bourses that more than Rs 5 lakh crore of BSE market capitalisation (m-cap) was generated. Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, rose Rs 5.04 lakh crore to Rs 439.94 lakh crore today compared with a valuation of Rs 434.89 lakh crore recorded during the previous session.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities, said the benchmarks regained the lost momentum and rallied sharply thereafter on all-around buying support despite pessimism in European and other Asian bourses. Benchmark Nifty closing above the 25,000 mark will be a huge boost for traders. With India-Pakistan tensions on the mend currently, and hopes of a favourable tariff policy between the US and the two Asian giants (India and China) expected in the near term, equity markets could see some traction, although bouts of intra-day volatility risk remain high," Tapse stated.

Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza, suggested that the market rally was largely driven by optimism following Trump's announcement that India had offered a deal to remove tariffs on US goods.

As many as 92 shares hit their 52-week high levels today. BSE 500 stocks such as Authum Investment & Infrastructure Ltd, Anupam Rasayan India Ltd, APL Apollo Tubes Ltd, Aster DM Healthcare Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Dalmia Bharat, Bajaj Auto, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd, JK Cement, Max Financial Services, Shree Cement, Solar Industries India and ICICI Bank hit their respective one-year high levels. That said, 28 stocks touched their respective one-year lows today.