Market rebounded sharply on Thursday, after three consecutive days of losses, the rally being led by metals. F&O settlement day on the NSE for July contracts too lifted sentiment due to long rollovers into August series.

However, indices were dragged by losses in Auto, FMCG and pharma stocks.

The BSE Sensex closed at 52,653.07, up 209.36 points or 0.40 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 52,777.18 and a low of 52,561.39. The Nifty 50, after surpassing the 15,800-mark during the day with an intraday high of 15,817.35, closed at 15,778.45, up 69.05 points or 0.44 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 15,737.80.

Breadth turns positive

The market breadth turned positive with 1,938 stocks advancing, 1,252 declining and 147 stocks remaining unchanged on the BSE. While 491 stocks hit an upper circuit, 221 were locked in the lower circuit. As many as 467 stocks touched 52-week high level and 21 touched 52-week low.

According to Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers, “Indian markets started on a positive note following upbeat Asian market peers with reports that the Chinese Securities regulator has stepped-in to assuage investor concerns over tech crackdown supported sentiment and favourable outcome of Federal Open Committee which ended its two-day meeting by keeping interest rates in a target range between zero and 0.25 per cent. During the afternoon session markets continued their firm trade.”

Investor sentiments were further impacted positively as the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) stated that India is expected to hit a growth rate of 6.5-7 per cent in 2022-23 and accelerate further to 8 per cent in the subsequent years on the back of reforms undertaken by the government, as per Solanki.

Gross domestic product forecasts were raised to a 9.2 per cent expansion in the fiscal year ending March 2022, from the previous 9 per cent, while the gross value-added outlook edged down slightly to 9 per cent.

Hindalco, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv and JSW Steel were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Maruti, Powergrid, Bajaj Auto, ITC and Coal India were the top laggards.

Maruti down 2 per cent on Q1 results

The shares of passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) slipped over 2 per cent after the company reported lower than expected earnings for Q1-FY2022. It reported a consolidated net profit of ₹475 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021. The company had reported a loss of ₹268 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The profit for the first quarter was impacted due to lower sales volume. In a statement, the company said, though commodity prices increased steeply, it continued to make efforts to reduce costs.

It closed at ₹6,999.00 on the NSE, down 2.32 per cent.

Metals lead rally

On the sectoral front, a majority of indices closed in the green as metals led the rally.

Led by Hindalco which closed over 10 per cent higher, the Nifty Metal index surged 5 per cent at closing.

“Metal stocks were sparked by the huge infrastructure fiscal package finalized in the US, in anticipation of high demand," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

According to S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities, the rally in metals was also buoyed by an expected rise in steel consumption.

Furthermore, PSU Bank, IT and Realty stocks also gained while auto, FMCG and pharma remained under pressure.

Nifty PSU Bank was up 3.25 per cent while Nifty IT was up 1.39 per cent. Nifty Realty closed 1.61 per cent higher.

Meanwhile Nifty FMCG was down 1.02 per cent. Nifty Auto and Nifty Pharma were down 0.44 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively.

Broader indices

Broader indices also recovered as mid-cap and small-cap stocks witnessed buying action.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.11 per cent at closing while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.63 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.39 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.90 per cent.

The volatility index fell 5.45 per cent to 12.95.

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