SENSEX, NIFTY50 gain for a fifth straight session led by HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a fifth straight session on Thursday, June 18, as sentiment remained positive tracking a decline in crude price and a strengthening rupee against the US dollar.

The SENSEX rose as much as 337 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,189 led by gains in index heavyweights like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, NTPC and Bharat Electronics.

The SENSEX ended 254 points higher at 77,410 and NIFTY50 index advanced 82 points to settle at 24,168.

In the last five trading sessions, the SENSEX has surged 4.85% and NIFTY50 index has climbed 4.35%.

Back home, the rupee strengthened by 33 paise to 94.19 against the US dollar tracking uptick in equity markets and declining crude prices.

Buying was visible across board as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), barring the measure of IT shares, ended higher led by the NIFTY Healthcare index's 1% gain, NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Realty, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Pharma, Consumer Durables and Auto indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.7%.

Broader markets also witnessed buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.41% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.44%.

Among the individual shares, New India Assurance surged as much as 14.24% to hit an intraday high of ₹188.50 as the company is planning to sell 1 crore NSE shares in the upcoming IPO.

Bata India rallied 18% to touch an intraday high of ₹803.3 after the company shared leadership reshuffle plans.

The firm appointed Sanjay Rao as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bata India, with effect from August 24, 2026. He succeeds Gunjan Shah, who will conclude his tenure upon completion of his five-year mandate leading the business.

Max Healthcare was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 6.5% to close at ₹1,092. IndiGo, Adani Enterprises, Trent, Bharat Electronics, NTPC, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life, State Bank of India and Eicher Motors also rose between 0.13% and 2.78%.

On the flip side, Infosys, Tata Consumer Products, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro, Coal India and HCL Tech were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,902 shares ended higher while 1,384 closed lower on the NSE.