Stock Market Highlights: The market extended its recovery as the Nifty climbed above the 23,250 mark, while the Nifty Bank also rebounded sharply from the day’s lows to gain more than 500 points. Axis Bank, M&M and Tata Consumer were among the top gainers on the Nifty.
The recovery was led by financials and FMCG stocks, with IT remaining a key drag. Four of the top five Nifty losers — TCS, Wipro, Infosys and Tech Mahindra — were from the IT space. Insurance stocks also saw buying at lower levels, with HDFC Life and SBI Life gaining around 3% each.
The broader market remained subdued, with the Midcap index slipping 4 points to 60,874, indicating relatively weaker performance compared with the benchmarks. Among individual stocks, Patanjali Foods gained 7% on strong volumes, while PB Fintech rose 5% amid reports that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s commission paper may be only directional. Paytm gained 4%, while Pine Labs slipped 4% after the return of merchant discount rates on UPI transactions.
Gold financiers largely ended higher, led by a 2% rise in Muthoot Finance, while Premier Energies, Kalyan Jewellers, Nippon Life and Sona BLW were among the notable midcap losers.
With the three-day losing streak now broken, investor focus shifts to the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting. The Fed’s rate decision, commentary and guidance on the interest-rate path will be closely watched for cues on global risk sentiment and the next move in Indian equities.
Stay tuned for all the LIVE stock market updates and highlights.