Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty shrug off losses, recover sharply; here's why

Domestic benchmarks witnessed a strong rebound in Thursday’s trade after a gap-down start as investors cheered signs of progress in the ongoing trade discussions between the United States (US) and India. Last checked, the 30-share BSE Sensex pack zoomed 1,255 points or 1.54 per cent to trade at 82,586 and the broader NSE Nifty index moved up 407 points or 1.54 per cent to 25,074. The sharp upward move helped to generate a notional investor wealth of Rs 4.72 lakh crore.

Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, rose Rs 4.72 lakh crore to Rs 439.62 lakh crore today compared with a valuation of Rs 434.89 lakh crore recorded during the previous session. Buying interest in select heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Tourbro (L&T), HCLTechnologies, Airtel, Infosys and Tata Motors lifted the indices higher.

The indices turned positive after news agency Bloomberg reported that US President Donald Trump said India has offered a trade deal that would bring “basically zero tariffs” on a wide range of American goods. Trump made the comment in Doha on Wednesday during his West Asia tour.

Although, Trump did not provide specifics on the proposal or its scope. And, there was no immediate response from New Delhi regarding the alleged offer, leaving key questions unanswered on whether the move applies to all categories of American exports or selected sectors.

As India negotiates trade deals with Washington, Mark Mobius, Chairman of Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund, these agreements could open up greater economic opportunities, especially for sectors like pharma and automobiles. Among the emerging markets, the renowned market expert placed India at the top of his list.

In addition, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) infused more than Rs 50,000 crore into Indian equities since April 15. The trend highlights a growing preference among overseas institutions for quality and stability amid prevailing global uncertainties.

On BSE, as many as 84 stocks hit their 52-week high levels today. BSE 500 stocks such as Authum Investment & Infrastructure Ltd, Anupam Rasayan India Ltd, APL Apollo Tubes Ltd, Aster DM Healthcare Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Dalmia Bharat, Bajaj Auto, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd and ICICI Bank hit their respective one-year high levels. That said, 27 stocks touched their respective one-year lows today.