SENSEX surges over 650 points, NIFTY50 near 24,000; here are key things to know

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a strong rebound on Wednesday, June 24, as sentiment turned positive, tracking a fall in crude oil prices in global markets and strength in the rupee against the US dollar. The SENSEX rose as much as 682 points, while the NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,991, powered by gains in heavyweights such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

As of 11:15 m, the SENSEX was up 675 points at 76,875, and the NIFTY50 index traded 157 points higher at 23,980.

Boost from foreign investors

The sentiment got a boost after Press Trust of India reported that foreign portfolio investors put in around ₹35,000 crore so far this month in Indian bonds after the government exempted them from income tax on interest income and capital gains arising from investments in these bonds, according to Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL) data.

All these investments came under the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) of the Indian government securities.

This is because FAR allows non-resident investors to invest in specified Government of India-dated securities without any investment ceilings, as per data.

FPI holdings in FAR securities stood at ₹3.58 lakh crore on Tuesday, up from ₹3.23 lakh crore on June 3, the data showed.

Prior to this, the foreign investors have poured ₹5,512.108 crore in May and ₹5,262.016 crore in April. However, there were outflows of ₹17,687.988 crore in March.

Crude oil drops

Crude oil prices in the global market dropped below $76 per barrel to pre-war levels, backed by the progress of final peace deal negotiations between the United States and Iran.

Brent futures dropped to $75.97 per bbl due to the positive sentiment around the peace deal and the supply chain normalisation via the Strait of Hormuz.

Reports suggest that the maritime oil trade traffic is closing in on normalising to its pre-war levels, as both have an active agreement (MoU) to ensure free trade of oil via the key passage.

Rupee strengthens

The Indian rupee also staged a bounce back from intraday lows as the local unit gained as much as 16 paise from an intraday low of 94.86 to 94.70 against the greenback.

Sharp decline in global crude oil prices and FII inflows supported the local unit to prevent a sharper decline, analysts noted.

Asian shares rebound

Most Asian markets, which faced a major selloff in the previous session, were trading higher. South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 2.75% after dropping 10% in Tuesday’s session, China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.5%.

Heavyweights rally

Index heavyweights such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and State Bank of India were top movers in the SENSEX. They collectively contributed over 500 points towards the gain in the SENSEX.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the NIFTY50 index; the stock rose 2.5% to ₹1,372. Dr Reddy’s Labs, InterGlobe Aviation, Tech Mahindra, Trent, HDFC Bank, and Infosys also rose between 1.75% and 2.22%.

On the flip side, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Tata Motors PV, HDFC Life, Maruti Suzuki, and SBI Life were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

Sectoral picture

11 of 15 sector gauges compiled by the NSE were trading higher, led by the NIFTY Bank index’s over 1% gain. NIFTY Private Bank, Financial Services, and IT indices also rose over 1% each.

On the other hand, consumer durables, metal, and auto shares were facing selling pressure.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,508 shares advanced while 1,568 declined on the NSE.