Indian markets staged a measured recovery on Thursday, with the Sensex gaining 238 points, or 0.31 per cent, to close at 76,742 and the Nifty 50 adding 81 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end at 23,963. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, the rebound came despite crude oil holding near $79 a barrel and the Strait of Hormuz situation remaining unresolved. The recovery signalled that domestic markets had largely priced in the conflict, with the rebound primarily supported by easing concerns over West Asia after indications that Iran was willing to resume negotiations. As per ETMarkets, the renewed optimism was broad-based, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 indices gaining up to 2%, reflecting healthy market breadth with advances outnumbering declines by more than 3:1.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks significantly, with the Nifty Midcap 100 advancing 1.38 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 surging 1.80 per cent, reflecting healthy market breadth with advances outnumbering declines by more than 3:1. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, sectorally, Realty led the charge with gains of over 3.3 per cent, followed by Media, PSU Banks and Consumer Durables. IT and Auto were the only sectors to close in the red, with IT under pressure ahead of TCS's first-quarter earnings report. According to ETMarkets, Nifty Realty rallied around 4% to lead gains, while Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Consumer Durables and a few other sectoral indices gained around 2% each. Notably, Nifty Auto slipped into the red during the session.
Individual stock performance showed mixed trends with Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Eternal and IndiGo shares jumping around 2-3% to lead gains on the Sensex, while Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement shares gained nearly 2% each to follow. However, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys and NTPC shares dropped 1-2% to lead losses on the benchmark index. As per ETMarkets, the overall market breadth was positive with the NSE seeing 2,522 advances and 780 declines, while 112 stocks remained unchanged. The India VIX, which measures market volatility, crashed around 10% to 13.27 after skyrocketing 26% in the previous session, indicating reduced fear levels among investors.
On the currency front, the rupee recovered around 16 paise to trade at 95.37 against the dollar, aided by short covering and a 1.15 per cent pullback in crude oil prices. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, gold on COMEX gained around 0.75 per cent, recovering to $4,075 after finding support at that level, while MCX Gold moved toward ₹1,44,500. Silver gained over 1.3 per cent, with safe-haven demand supporting precious metals. As per ETMarkets, the spike in Brent crude to around $80 raised market concerns, but analysts noted that Brent at $80 is not a problem and won't create a BoP crisis.
The IMF's reaffirmation of India as the world's fastest-growing major economy, revising the FY28 growth forecast upward to 6.7 per cent even as it marginally trimmed the FY27 projection to 6.4 per cent, also bolstered sentiment. In global markets, European equity futures rebounded roughly 1 per cent after Brent crude held below $80 per barrel, easing fears of an immediate inflation shock. Fixed income markets saw yields drift higher, with the 10-year Bund yield moving back above 3 per cent, though analysts maintained their overweight duration stance. According to ETMarkets, foreign institutional investors continued their buying trend for the sixth consecutive session, with this trend likely to continue if crude remains stable.
With the TCS result now out, the broader IT sector earnings season is underway, and management commentary from peers like Infosys and Wipro will be closely watched. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, the market will scrutinise whether TCS's AI deal momentum is company-specific or a broader industry tailwind. For Indian equities, Friday's session will open with TCS numbers as the primary data point, with global cues from the US-Iran situation, foreign fund flows, and crude oil prices remaining the key macro overhangs. According to ETMarkets, net profit growth is likely to remain in single digit for the third quarter in a row amid compressed profit margin on account of input cost inflation, with revenue and net profit expected to grow by 10.6% and 5.8% respectively.
