Stock markets rebounded on Thursday with the benchmark Sensex climbing 398 points following buying in IT firms and blue-chip Reliance Industries amid foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 398.44 points or 0.49 per cent to settle at 82,172.10. During the day, it jumped 474.07 points or 0.57 per cent to 82,247.73.
The 50-share NSE Nifty jumped by 135.65 points or 0.54 per cent to 25,181.80.
IT shares such as HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra gained ahead of the quarterly earnings. IT bellwether TCS, after market hours, reported a 1.39 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 12,075 crore and a 2.39 per cent rise in revenues to Rs 65,799 crore for the second quarter of FY25.
Among Sensex firms, Tata Steel rose the most by 2.65 per cent after the company reported a 7 per cent rise in domestic crude steel production. HCL Tech, UltraTech Cement, Bharat Electronics, Sun Pharma and Tata Consultancy Services were the major gainers.
Infosys rose nearly 1 per cent while Reliance Industries advanced 0.78 per cent, supporting the recovery in key indices from the previous day's losses.
However, Axis Bank, Titan, Maruti and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
"Domestic benchmark indices staged a smart recovery on Thursday, reversing the previous session’s losses, as risk appetite returned across the board. The Nifty-50 concluded the session on a strong note, settling just shy of the 25,200 milestone, underpinned by sustained buying across key sectors," according to Bajaj Broking Research.
Positive global cues and institutional buying interest supported the markets, it added.
"The domestic market showed gains amid Q2 results, while metals indices outperformed, led by an uptick in base metal prices,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
Despite muted earnings expectations, the IT index moved higher as investors took comfort in attractive valuations—currently below long-term averages, Nair added.
The BSE midcap gauge jumped 0.75 per cent and smallcap index climbed 0.18 per cent.
All sectoral indices ended higher. Metal surged 2.16 per cent, followed by commodities (1.34 per cent), BSE Focused IT (1.13 per cent), IT (1.02 per cent), services (0.87 per cent), healthcare (0.84 per cent) and capital goods (0.78 per cent).
As many as 2,099 stocks advanced while 2,080 declined and 171 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 81.28 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index settled significantly higher while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended lower.
Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note. US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.23 per cent to USD 66.08 a barrel.
On Wednesday, the Sensex declined 153.09 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 81,773.66, snapping its four-day rising streak. The Nifty dropped 62.15 points or 0.25 per cent to 25,046.15.