But come closing, the Nifty ends higher, despite all of the above mentioned headwinds remaining as is, with little to no change.
The Nifty has recovered 550 points from the lows of the day, ended in the positive, but could not prevent a sixth consecutive weekly loss. There was recovery in stocks across the board, with the advance-decline ratio turning positive after having weakened to as many as five stocks declining for every one stock advancing.
At the lows of the day, the BSE-listed companies had wiped out nearly ₹10 lakh crore in investor wealth.
However, there was a sharp reversal from the lows of the session post noon, which became swifter during the final few minutes of the trading session.
One major factor that could have contributed to the improving sentiments, would have been the strength in the currency after a slew of measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India.
After closing at record lows on Tuesday, the rupee strengthened on Thursday, seeing its biggest single-day appreciation since 2013, to even strengthen below the mark of 93 against the US Dollar at one point.
Despite the strength in the currency, India’s IT stocks were the top contributor to the recovery seen on the Nifty on Thursday. Every single stock on the Nifty IT index ended with gains on Thursday, led by Coforge and LTIMindtree, which gained over 4% each, while the rest gained between 1% to 3%.
Today also was the Sensex weekly expiry, which brought with it a fair share of volatility. Traders may have wanted to go light on positions, heading into the long weekend, particularly due to the uncertainties surrounding the war.
The Nifty Bank was the other major contributor to the Nifty recovery and subsequent positive close. The index recovered over 1,500 points from the lows of the day to end 115 points higher. Heavyweights like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank contributed to the recovery.
Going into the next week, which will be the first full one after two truncated ones, the war-related developments will continue to remain the key monitorable. However, companies announcing their fourth quarter updates and then the start of the earnings season, along with the RBI monetary policy decision will be the most important triggers for the week ahead.
