Both indices saw sharp intraday swings, but strong buying interest in heavyweight stocks helped drive a late-session rebound. From the day’s lows, the Sensex recovered over 2%.
However, broader markets remained under pressure. The Nifty Midcap index fell 146 points to 54,615, and market breadth stayed negative, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 1:2.
Banking stocks led the recovery, with the Nifty Bank index surging 656 points to 54,413 after recovering more than 1,000 points from intraday lows. HDFC Bank emerged as a top gainer among frontline stocks, supporting overall sentiment.
Cement and metal stocks also outperformed. UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries and Hindalco Industries rose up to 5% following positive comments from Kumar Mangalam Birla at the India Business Leaders Awards. UltraTech Cement featured among the top Sensex gainers, along with HDFC Bank and Eternal.
Auto stocks staged a sharp rebound, lifting the Nifty Auto index, with Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor leading gains. Ola Electric snapped a four-day losing streak to end nearly 7% higher, while Bajel Projects hit a 20% upper circuit after securing two major orders in as many days.
Oil marketing companies HPCL, BPCL and IOC declined over 4% each after an HSBC downgrade. IDBI Bank tumbled nearly 17% on divestment-related concerns.
In currency markets, the rupee ended slightly stronger at 92.42 per dollar, compared with Friday’s close of 92.46.
Asian indices ended mixed Monday, recovering from initial losses amid little signs of easing of hostilities in West Asia. The continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz has kept crude oil prices elevated, further dampening sentiment. At 1406 IST, the May futures contract of Brent Crude oil was at $105.69 per barrel.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the best performer among its peers, closing 1.5% higher, followed closely by South Korea’s Kospi, which closed 1.1% higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% amid reports the Bank of Japan is likely to keep interest rates steady at the end of its two-day policy meeting Thursday.
With inputs from agencies
