Nifty Next 50 Up 1.45%, Nifty Midsmall Financial Services Jumps 2.52% in Massive Reversal of Sentiments 

Mumbai, April 6: Indian stock markets recovered sharply from steep losses witnessed at the opening bell to end higher on Monday tracking broad-based buying across sectors amid reports the US and Iran could be talking about a ceasefire to put an end to the ongoing conflict in Middle East region. The BSE Sensex wiped out a drop of almost 395 points at the open to end 305 points higher at 73,336, while NSE Nifty 50 settled at 22,957, 1.08% or 244 points above its previous close of 22,713.

Midway through the session, the Sensex had trimmed losses to trade down just 73 points from its previous close while Nifty had almost completely recovered to 22,710 as investors scrambled to buy Indian blue chips after stock markets slumped over 1% at the open on Monday in knee-jerk reaction to Iran breaching the uranium stockpile limit agreed under a 2015 deal with world powers.

Asian stock markets were mixed as markets in Tokyo and Hong Kong traded lower while Seoul kept gains, reported Bloomberg. The S&P BSE Sensex began trading 393 points down and Nifty dropped 93 points to trade below 22,700 in early deals before markets staged a sharp recovery.

Broad Markets Rise with Stocks Higher

All sectoral indices on the NSE ended higher with Nifty Next 50 up 1.45% to 62,855 while Nifty Midcap 100 jumped 1.49% to 54,476 and Nifty Midcap 150 added 1.41% to settle at 20,085. Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 1.33% to end at 15,858 and Nifty Smallcap 50 advanced 1.46% to 7,736, underscoring broad-based buying by investors in small and midcap stocks. Nifty 500 ended 1.19% higher at 21,187 while Nifty Total Market gained 1.18% to close at 11,890.

India VIX continued to trade higher at 25.56 up 0.25 points from its previous close, highlighting lingering investor anxiety despite a broad-based market recovery on Monday.

Top 5 Index Gainers

The top 5 performers among the Nifty sectoral indices were Nifty Consumer Durables (+2.60%), Nifty PSU Bank (+2.46%), Nifty Financial Services Ex-Bank (+2.60%), Nifty Midsmall Financial Services (+2.52%) and Nifty Realty (+2.26%).

The sharp rally in consumer durables was led by Kalyan Jewellers and LG Electronics India while the PSU Bank index climbed 2.46% as Bank of Baroda and Maharashtra Bank rose 4.38% and 4.04%, respectively, and investors piled into financial stocks on hopes for a ceasefire between US and Iran. Stocks such as NBFCs and insurers were among top gainers in Nifty Financial Services Ex-Bank while realty stocks were boosted by easing oil prices after news of US and Iran talks on ceasefire, which helped dial down inflation-linked interest rate risk premium on the sector.

Top 5 Index Losers

The laggards were Nifty Oil & Gas (-1.36%), Nifty Media (-0.07%), Nifty FMCG (-0.22%), Nifty Pharma (+0.26%) and Nifty Chemicals (+0.46%). Nifty Oil & Gas fell as crude oil prices dropped after reports US and Iran could talk about ceasefire deal while Nifty Media stocks remained in doldrums tracking weak earnings visibility.

Nifty FMCG stocks underperformed compared to broader market gains on defensive selling while Nifty Pharma added just 0.26%, underperforming Nifty 50 after strong run over the past few sessions. Brent crude futures fell 0.8% to $71.60 per barrel after reports US and Iran could be talking about a 45-day ceasefire.

Winners Lead Nifty 50 Stocks

Trent was Nifty 50’s biggest winner on Monday rallying 8% to ₹3,834 on heavy institutional buying interest while SBI Life Insurance advanced 3.74% to ₹1,840 followed by Axis Bank up 3.31% to ₹1,237 and Shriram Finance adding 3.50% to ₹922 on positive moves in the broader financial services sector.

BSE stock added 4.02% to ₹2,966 on brokerage estimate upgrades while Adani Enterprises climbed 3.56% to ₹1,899 and L&T rose 3.15% to ₹3,727 tracking broader market strength. Nifty 50’s biggest loser was Reliance Industries falling 3.30% to ₹1,306 on continued selling pressure after Iran talks and a sharp fall in crude oil prices weighed on sentiment around its upstream business.

Other losers on the Sensex were Eicher Motors (-0.86%), JSW Steel (-0.77%), HCLTECH (-0.16%) and Dr Reddy’s (-0.02%).

Nifty Financial Services Index

NSE Nifty Financial Services settled at 24,573, up 2.21% on the back of broad-based buying across major stocks within the index. Top gainers were BSE Ltd (+4.02%), Muthoot Finance (+3.59%), SBI Life (+3.74%) and Axis Bank (+3.31%) while the only loser was SBI Card (-0.53%).

Nifty Midcap 50 and Nifty Realty Highlights

Godrej Properties jumped 5.22% to ₹1,587 in both Nifty Midcap 50 and Realty indices as investors cheered hopes of Iran-US ceasefire to de-escalate geopolitical tensions. Sobha Ltd jumped 5.82% followed by Kalyan Jewellers (+6.50%) and NMDC (+4.50%) in the Realty index while LTF Finance surged 5.68% and Indian Bank (+3.63%) were among the top gainers in the Midcap space.

Sources: 

• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/live-equity-market?symbol=NIFTY%20PSU%20BANK
• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/live-equity-market?symbol=NIFTY%20REALTY
• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/live-equity-market?symbol=NIFTY%20CONSUMER%20DURABLES