SENSEX reclaims its 82,200 mark, with broader markets leading the outperformance

The Indian equity benchmark indices opened Wednesday’s session on a positive note, with all eyes on the RBI’s policy announcement. Following the announcement, the indices extended their gains as the RBI shifted its stance from a “withdrawal of accommodation” to a “neutral” position while keeping the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%.

This neutral stance provides the RBI greater flexibility to adjust interest rates in response to changing inflation dynamics. By midday, the frontline indices were trading near the day’s highs, with the NIFTY50 index up by 210 points at 25,223 and the SENSEX gaining 620 points, reaching the 82,251 level. The Nifty Bank surged past the 51,500 mark, up by 0.93%, while the India VIX declined sharply by 6.65%, falling below the 13.7 mark.

On Wednesday, the NIFTY50 index exhibited strong market breadth, with 40 stocks advancing against 20 declining. Overall, market breadth was robust, as over 2,000 stocks advanced compared to just 349 that declined. Both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices outperformed, gaining 1.45% and 1.68%, respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, all were trading in the green by the midday session, with the exception of Nifty FMCG, which was down by 0.52%. Nifty Realty (+2.26%) and Nifty Pharma (+1.58%) led the gains, emerging as the top-performing sectors. The Nifty Pharma index reached a fresh all-time high, having surged 40.6% in 2024 to date.