Sensex, Nifty50 eke out mild gains; investors recoup fraction of losses in 3-day sell-off

Domestic equity benchmarks staged a mild recovery in Thursday's trade after three straight days of a sell-off that took away more than Rs 21 lakh crore worth of investor wealth amid concerns about a prolonged war in the Middle East. Analysts said that markets looked poised to form a bottom as investors reassessed the situation in the Middle East that battered global equities since the onset of the conflict, which began with Israel and the US launching joint strikes against Iran that killed Tehran's Supreme Leader killed.

Some analysts also warned that volatility is expected to persist over the next few sessions as markets assess the situation going forward.

The Sensex rose as much as 564.5 points, or 0.7 per cent, to an intraday high of 79,680.7 while the Nifty50 rose to as high as 24,672.8, adding 192.3 points, or 0.8 per cent, to its previous close, before trimming more than half of those gains.

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At around noon, the Sensex traded 204.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, higher at 79,320.8 while the Nifty50 was up 103.2 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 24,583.7.

The Nifty Bank was up 0.3 per cent at the time, having risen as much as 0.7 per cent earlier in the day. Barring State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, all Nifty Bank stocks enjoyed gains at midday with AU Small Finance Bank rising as much as 2.4 per cent.

The Nifty Auto, Metal and Realty indices were up 0.8 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 1.3 per vent, respectively.

Gains on Dalal Street were broad-based, reflected in a gain of 0.8 per cent each in the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 gauges.

Rs 1.26 lakh crore recovered so far after Rs 21.31 lakh-crore sell-off in 3 days

At the current level, the overall market value of BSE-listed securities was recorded at Rs 448.45 lakh crore, translating to a gain of Rs 1.26 lakh crore over the previous close, according to provisional exchange data.

That marked only a fraction of losses over the past three days, when the mcap fell by Rs 21.31 lakh crore, the data showed.

Top Nifty50 Gainers and Losers | What's driving the market?

In the 50-blue-chip basket, Hindalco, Coal India Ltd (CIL), Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), ONGC, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), NTPC, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Shriram Finance, PowerGrid and Tata Steel -- trading between 1.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent higher -- rose the most among the 24 gainers.

On the other hand, Eternal, HCLTech, Adani Enterprises, HDFC Life, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India (SBI), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asian Paints, Max Healthcare and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) -- trading betweel 1.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent lower -- were the top losers in the pack.

Top index movers

Among heavyweights, buying interest in HDFC Bank, RIL, L&T, BEL and NTPC pushed the 30-scrip gauge higher, whereas selling pressure in counters like SBI, Eternal and Infosys posed the maximum pressure.

Overall market breadth turned from extremely positive in early trade to moderately positive in afternon deals, as 2,231 stocks rose while 1,707 fell on BSE.

Global markets

Shares in other major Asian markets made a comeback, mirroring an overnight rise on Wall Street, as investors pinned hopes on the prospect of peace talks in the very short term that may lead to de-escalation in the Middle East.

Investors continued to track energy rates closely for direction. Crude oil prices hovered in the $82-85 a barrel range. ⁠Higher oil ​prices are typically negative for markets like India, the world's ​third-largest crude importer that meets more than four-fifths of its oil demand through imports.