Banks, Metals lift Sensex 694 Pts;US Election Results Eyed

Indian benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 staged a smart recovery in the afternoon session on Tuesday, recouping some of Monday’s losses. The bounce back in the markets came ahead of the US Presidential elections results (due tonight) and the US Federal Reserve Policy meeting later in the week.

The BSE Sensex settled up 694 points or 0.88 per cent higher at 79,476.63. while the Nifty 50 ended above the 24,200-mark at 24,213, up 218 points or 0.91 per cent.

Analysts said the rebound could be attributed to technical bounceback and shortcovering, besides hopes of demand revival in H2 FY25.

“The domestic market experienced a sharp recovery, reclaiming most of the previous day’s losses amid uncertainty surrounding the likely downgrade in Q2 GDP forecast and closely contested US presidential election. However, the recent rebound in domestic manufacturing activity data, along with the expected revival of consumption in the H2, are likely to support market sentiment. Metals led the gains, driven by the anticipation of significant stimulus from China later this week,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.

The rebound in the benchmarks was led by JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Axis bank, IndusInd Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Ultratech Cement, and Maruti Suzuki. These shares rallied in the range of 1.5 per cent to 4.7 per cent on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, only nine stocks in the 30-stock index, including Adani Ports, ITC, Asian Paints, Infosys, and L&T, closed in the negative territory, down up to 1.5 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and the BSE SmallCap indices edged 0.4 per cent higher each.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index climbed the most, up nearly 3 per cent, followed by the Nifty Private Bank, and Bank indices, up 2 per cent.

On the downside, the Nifty FMCG, and IT indices ended lower, down up to 0.3 per cent.