Wednesday was a good day to be in Indian equities. After two months of being knocked around by the Middle East conflict and the energy crisis it triggered, Dalal Street delivered two consecutive days of meaningful recovery.
The BSE Sensex closed at 75,273.45, up about 1,205 points from Tuesday's close of 74,068.45, marking a gain of about 1.6 per cent. The NSE Nifty 50 closed at 23,306.45, rising from 22,912.40 the previous day with a gain of over 394 points, or roughly 1.7 per cent.
At its intraday high, the Nifty had touched 23,465.35, and the Sensex had brushed past 75,849, both indices comfortably in the green throughout the session.
Who led the charge?
Among the 30 constituents of the Sensex, UltraTech Cement became the biggest gainer, up by 4.4 per cent. Close behind were Bajaj Finance and L&T. The biggest laggard in the pack was Tech Mahindra.
The broader market was similarly buoyant, with the rally broad-based across sectors.
The trigger for two days of recovery was Brent crude falling below $100 a barrel after Trump’s pause on Iran strikes.
Many brokers, such as Kotak Securities, reported HDFC Bank as their highest go-to stock to buy for investors in today’s trade.
It was not just Indian markets that saw green. Asian peers such as South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices all ended with gains.