Market Wrap, March 24: Indices rally for sixth day; SENSEX zooms 1,079 points, NIFTY50 ends at 23,658; India VIX surges 9%

At the close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 77,984.38, up 1,078.87 points, or 1.40%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index closed the session at 23,658.35, up 307.95 points, or 1.32%.

Out of 30 stocks, seven stocks ended in the red and the rest 23 in the green.

During the session, SENSEX hit a high of 78,107.23, while the NIFTY50 index touched the day's peak of 23,708.75.

According to experts, the Indian market is rising now as the valuations have become favourable after a persistent fall since late September 2024. Early signs of a recovery are visible with global banks, including Citigroup Inc., signalling that the selloff since last September has eased concern around the market’s expensive valuation. The central bank’s liquidity infusion and rate cut in the last meeting also drove optimism, according to a report by Bloomberg.

“Confidence is coming back. We are seeing a convincing recovery in various stocks, and this rally seems to have legs,” said Sonam Srivastava, founder of Wright Research in Mumbai. “There is an expectation of earnings bottoming out,” Srivastava added.

Market Statistics

Out of 3,027 stocks traded on the NSE, 1,865 gained, and 1,082 declined, while 80 stocks remained unchanged.

This shows that the market breadth was in favour of bulls.

Besides, as many as 53 stocks hit their one-year high levels, while 62 stocks touched their 52-week low levels.

Further, 202 stocks hit their upper circuit limits on the NSE, and 74 scrips touched their lower circuits.

Investors' wealth increased by ₹5.05 lakh crore as the m-cap of BSE-listed firms stood at ₹418.35 lakh crore against ₹413.30 lakh crore logged on Friday.

Broader Market

The broader market, too, participated in the rally. The NIFTY MIDCAP 100 index ended 1.30% higher at 52,524.05 levels, while the NIFTY SMALLCAP 100 index gained 1.10% to 16,363.70 points.

The volatility index, INDIA VIX, rallied 8.94% to 13.70 levels.

Sector Watch

All sectoral indices ended in positive territory, with banking, utilities, and industrial stocks leading the rally.

The BSE BANKEX index ended at 59,644.74, up 1,471.52 points, or 2.53%.