IT, Realty, Private Banks Shine While Auto, Metals Drag: How Sectors Fared on Dalal Street Today

Mumbai, June 24:Indian equities staged a strong rebound on Wednesday, with benchmark indices recovering much of the previous session’s losses as lower crude oil prices and bargain hunting sparked buying across sectors. The Nifty reclaimed the 24,000 mark and the Sensex surged nearly 800 points as information technology, realty and banking stocks led the advance while auto, metal and energy counters lagged.

IT Stocks Rebound

Nifty IT index recovered from yesterday’s fall as sliding oil inspired a more benign interest rate outlook in the US. Source: NSE

Information technology emerged as one of the strongest-performing sectors of the day, with the Nifty IT index rising 2%.

The recovery came despite overnight weakness in U.S. technology stocks, suggesting investors were willing to look past global concerns and accumulate beaten-down IT names. Market heavyweights including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and HCL Technologies attracted buying interest as investors hunted for value following recent underperformance.

The sector also benefited from expectations that easing oil prices could improve overall risk appetite toward equities.

Realty Counters Rally on Improved Sentiment

Real estate stocks were another major beneficiary of Wednesday’s risk-on mood, with the Nifty Realty index gaining roughly 2%. Oberoi Realty rallied as the Mumbai developer marked its foray into Gurugram with regulatory approval, the move also signalling geographical diversification.

Investors returned to rate-sensitive sectors after Tuesday’s selloff, helping several realty counters outperform the broader market. The sector has remained in focus amid expectations that financing conditions will remain supportive.

Private Banks Gain

Private Banks Gain

Nifty Bank index rose as private lenders boomed on a policy announcement by RBI. Source: NSE

Financial stocks provided crucial support to the benchmarks, with the Nifty Private Bank index climbing about 1.8%.
Sentiment was aided by the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to permit banks to extend loans to non-residents against foreign-currency deposits, a move seen as enhancing funding flexibility. Shares of major lenders including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were among the key contributors to the benchmark rally.

Auto Sector Bucks the Trend

Unlike most sectors, automobile stocks ended in the red.

The Nifty Auto index was among the few sectoral losers as investors booked profits in select names. Shares of Bajaj Auto came under pressure after the company disclosed a ransomware attack affecting its systems and those of a subsidiary. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles also fell asinvestors grew wary over execution of the company’s long-term roadmap revealed yesterday.

Metal, Energy Stocks Lag

Metal and energy stocks failed to participate in the broader rally despite softer crude prices.

The Nifty Metal index ended lower even as Adani Enterprises rallied after thegroup outlined an aggressive multi-year investment pipeline, including a massive ₹2 trillion power sector capex plan.

Nifty Oil & Gas index roseamid the decline in oil prices. ONGC, however, fell.

Large Caps Outperform Broader Market

The day’s gains were concentrated largely in frontline stocks. While the Nifty 50 advanced 0.83%, the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose just 0.1% and the Smallcap 100 index gained 0.4%.

The divergence suggests investors preferred the relative safety and liquidity of large-cap names amid lingering concerns over the U.S. interest-rate outlook and global growth prospects.

Overall, Wednesday’s session reflected a clear rotation into large-cap IT, banking and realty stocks, helping the market recover sharply after Tuesday’s steep decline.

Source:

• NSE