(Photo : BT )

• India's equity market is on a positive trajectory, led by heavyweights like ICICI Bank and SBI.
• The Sensex and Nifty 50 closed in the green for the second consecutive day.
• The banking sector drove a rally, with Nifty Bank up 1,061 points.
• Despite global uncertainties and domestic challenges, the Indian equity market shows resilience, with banking and financial services stocks driving the rally.

India's equity market has been on a positive trajectory, closing in the green for the second consecutive day. This upward trend was led by heavyweights like ICICI Bank and SBI. The Sensex was up 363 points or 0.45 per cent at 80,369 and Nifty 50 was up 127 points or 0.52 per cent at 24,466. The banking sector, in particular, drove a rally with Nifty Bank up 1,061 points or 2.07 per cent at 52,320.

The broader markets also outperformed the Nifty 50. The Nifty midcap 100 index was up 514 points or 0.92 per cent at 56,251 and the Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 136 points or 0.76 per cent at 18,198. Among the sectoral indices, PSU Bank, financial services, metal, realty, energy, private bank, PSE and services were major gainers. However, Auto, IT, Pharma, FMCG and consumption were major laggards.

Market Performance and Key Players

In the Sensex pack, SBI, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ITC, Power Grid and Kotak Mahindra Bank were top gainers. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Infosys and JSW Steel were top losers.

Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory, PL Capital - Prabhudas Lilladher, commented on the market's performance, Markets recovered in the second half of the trading session, closing in the green for the second consecutive day and keeping the festive cheer alive. He further added, Private and PSU banks, along with other financial services stocks, led the rally, with these indices gaining over 2 per cent. However, the pharma and auto indices experienced profit booking and closed in the red. While FIIs have pulled out nearly Rs 1.03 lakh crore from Indian equities in October alone, strong domestic institutional inflows are acting like a floor for markets with net purchases worth Rs 98,491 crore."

Historical Similar Events and Market Volatility

This positive trend in the Indian equity market is reminiscent of the market performance in September 2024, when the Sensex hit 85,000 for the first time and Nifty traded at an all-time high. Experts had then noted that the preference for quality and fair value was getting stronger in India as reflected in the continuous rise in Bank Nifty for the eighth straight session. The return of FIIs into the market in September was expected to aid recovery in frontline banking stocks.

However, the market has also seen its share of volatility. In October 2024, the Sensex closed flat, with IT and auto stocks gaining. Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst of LKP Securities, had then noted that Nifty formed a Doji pattern with a long upper shadow on the daily chart, indicating market indecision.