Delilah D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network-Mumbai
Mumbai, May 23: Markets staged a smart recovery in early trade on Friday, bringing relief to investors after Thursday’s sharp fall. The rally was driven largely by gains in heavyweight IT stocks and a positive trend across Asian markets.
The BSE Sensex, which saw a cautious start, soon bounced back and climbed over 219 points to hit 81,171.04. Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose by 111.2 points to 24,720.90. The rally gathered pace as the session progressed, with Sensex trading 411 points higher at 81,363.59 and Nifty up by 145 points at 24,755.75.
Among the top gainers were Eternal, Infosys, HCL Tech, Power Grid, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, and Nestle — all lifting the market sentiment. However, Sun Pharma and Mahindra & Mahindra remained under pressure and were seen as laggards in the otherwise upbeat session.
Asian markets also gave a positive signal, with indices like South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all trading in green. US markets, however, ended Thursday’s session largely flat.
Speaking on the market's recent mood swings, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “After a 14% rally from the March lows, markets seem to be at a crossroads. The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), who had driven the rally, have shown signs of slowing down — evident from the recent sell-off.”
Despite the caution, Vijayakumar pointed to strong macroeconomic indicators. “India’s steady growth, cooling inflation, and lowering interest rates remain key positives. Even if the global scenario turns shaky, domestic demand-driven sectors like banking, telecom, and aviation continue to hold their ground.”
Stocks such as ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, and InterGlobe Aviation have reflected this resilience, he added.
Meanwhile, Brent crude prices eased slightly by 0.59%, trading at USD 64.06 per barrel. On the downside, FIIs pulled out over Rs 5,045 crore from Indian equities on Thursday, contributing to the previous session’s slump.
On Thursday, the Sensex had plummeted by 644.64 points, while the Nifty had lost 203.75 points, shaking investor confidence temporarily.