Indian equity benchmarks continued their upward momentum in Thursday’s afternoon trade, with the Sensex climbing 454.66 points or 0.60 per cent to 76,625.74 and the Nifty rising 141.70 points or 0.61 per cent to 23,186.95, building on their positive start earlier in the day.
Metal and pharmaceutical stocks led the rally, with Tata Steel emerging as the top gainer on the NSE, surging 3.79 per cent. The healthcare sector saw strong performance from Sun Pharma and Cipla, advancing 2.77 per cent and 2.68 per cent respectively. Financial stocks also contributed significantly to the gains, with Bajaj Finance rising 3.00 per cent and Bajaj Finserv adding 2.85 per cent.
However, the technology sector faced selling pressure, with major IT companies trading in the red. Adani Enterprises was the biggest laggard, falling 2.39 per cent, followed by Hero MotoCorp declining 0.43 per cent. IT majors Infosys, Wipro, and TCS saw modest declines of 0.34 per cent, 0.16 per cent, and 0.16 per cent respectively.
The broader market displayed strong buying interest, with 2,405 stocks advancing compared to 1,372 declines on the BSE. The market breadth remained positive despite 160 stocks hitting their 52-week lows, while 45 stocks touched their 52-week highs. Circuit filters were triggered for 388 stocks, with 149 hitting the upper circuit and 239 touching the lower circuit.
Sectoral indices showed mixed performance, with the Nifty Next 50 posting robust gains of 1.03 per cent to reach 61,454.10. The Nifty Financial Services index advanced 0.98 per cent to 23,419.85, while the banking sector, as represented by the Nifty Bank index, moved up marginally by 0.38 per cent to 49,669.40. The Nifty Midcap Select index also participated in the rally, rising 0.65 per cent to 11,468.90.
The market maintained its positive momentum following a strong opening that was supported by potential diplomatic developments in the Ukraine conflict and encouraging domestic inflation data. The previous day’s trading saw continued selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), who offloaded ₹4,969 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) remained net buyers with purchases worth ₹5,929 crore.
Trading activity remained broad-based with 3,918 stocks being traded on the BSE as the market headed into the afternoon session, reflecting active participation across market segments.