The BSE Sensex, which had slipped as much as 0.9% intraday to a low of 79,811.29, clawed back to close 79.27 points, or 0.1%, higher at 80,623.26. The NSE Nifty, after dipping to 24,344.15 during the session, rebounded to end at 24,596.15, up 21.95 points, or 0.09%. The late-day turnaround mirrored trends seen in recent weekly expiries.
Top Gainers & Losers
On the 30-stock Sensex pack, shares of Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Eternal, Axis Bank and Maruti Suzuki led the gainers, advancing between 0.7% and 1.7%.
Sectorally, IT and financial stocks supported the recovery, with IT stocks ending 0.1% higher and financials up 0.9%. The Nifty Bank and Nifty PSU Bank indices edged up 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.
Energy and oil & gas shares, which were down nearly 1% intraday amid concerns that disruptions in Russian crude supplies could drive up costs for refiners, trimmed losses to close around 0.2% lower.
Auto and pharmaceutical stocks, which have high exposure to the U.S. economy, also recovered from earlier losses to end 0.3% and 0.8% higher, respectively.Among notable movers, Hero MotoCorp surged 4.2% after reporting quarterly earnings ahead of analyst expectations.Broader market sentiment remained firm, with the Nifty mid-cap and small-cap indices climbing 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Both the Sensex and Nifty 50 had fallen nearly 1% earlier in the session, hitting their lowest levels since May before staging a late recovery.
Expert views
Domestic equities recovered sharply from the intraday lows amid a volatile weekly expiry day, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, adding that “although the earlier trade was weighed down by broad-based selling following steep U.S. tariff hikes on India, sentiment improved toward the close as reports of potential peace talks involving Trump, Putin, and Zelensky which raised hopes of a softer US stance on trade.”
This renewed optimism triggered a strong rebound in the auto, pharma, metals, and energy sectors and aided the market in recalling its trajectory and concluding in the green, said Nair.
Global Markets
World equities advanced on Thursday, buoyed by tech-driven gains on Wall Street, upbeat corporate earnings, and renewed hopes of a ceasefire in Ukraine, alongside rising expectations of interest rate cuts in the U.S.
The rally came despite fresh trade tensions sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff measures, including a 25% levy on imports from India and a threatened 100% duty on semiconductors.
In Europe, the STOXX 600 climbed 0.5%, led by strong gains in Frankfurt and Paris, where the DAX and CAC 40 rose 1% and 0.8%, respectively. London’s FTSE 100 lagged behind, slipping 0.3%.
Asian markets also posted broad gains. Japan’s Topix rose 0.7% to notch a record closing high, with the Nikkei 225 following suit. South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.6% after its top trade official confirmed that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would be exempt from the proposed 100% chip tariffs.
In fixed income, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury held steady at 4.2365%, while the two-year yield—more sensitive to rate expectations, ticked up 1 basis point to 3.7134%, hovering near a three-month low.
Gold prices firmed, with spot gold up 0.3% at $3,376 an ounce, after touching a two-week high earlier in the session.
Crude Impact
Oil prices steadied on Thursday, trimming earlier gains after the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days—fueling hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Ukraine conflict.
Brent crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $67.10 a barrel by 0902 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 20 cents, or 0.3%, to trade at $64.55.
Rupee vs Dollar
The Indian rupee shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump’s additional tariffs on Indian goods, ending up 0.03% on Thursday, closing largely flat at 87.7025 against the U.S. dollar, as traders and analysts bet on central bank support to steady the currency.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.10 per cent to 98.08.
(With inputs from agencies)
