Indian stock market bounces back, ends 2-day decline

Mumbai, Jan 28 (IANS) Indian stock markets on Tuesday witnessed a positive trend with the benchmark indices gaining strong ground after two days of decline amid mixed global signals.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex was up by 592.19 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 75,958.36, while the Nifty50 rose by 142.90 points, or 0.63 per cent to finish the day at 22,972.05.

On the BSE Sensex, 21 out of the 30 stocks were trading in the green, led by Axis Bank, which surged 3.96 per cent.

Other major gainers included HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel.

The only major laggard was Sun Pharma, which dropped 4.84 per cent. Other stocks like NTPC, Power Grid Corp., Larsen & Toubro and Nestle India also saw losses.

Similarly, on the Nifty50, 27 stocks were trading higher. Axis Bank again led the charge with a 3.96 per cent rise, followed by gains in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Shriram Finance.

On the downside, Sun Pharma was the biggest loser, falling 4.75 per cent, with NTPC, BEL, Dr Reddy's and Power Grid Corporation also seeing declines.

According to market experts, selling continued in the broader markets, but the Frontline Index went up, led by the Banking and Auto sectors.

“Mid and Smallcap stocks recovered most of their losses during the day, however, couldn’t sustain at higher levels,” said Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares.

Sector-wise, the Nifty Financial Services index was the top performer for the day by climbing 2.17 per cent.

Other sectors showing strong growth were Nifty Bank which was up by 2.08 per cent, Private Banks went up by 2.01 per cent, Realty rose 1.87 per cent, PSU Banks jumped 1.42 per cent, and Auto was up by 1.13 per cent.

The Nifty IT index also traded in green and was closed by rising 0.13 per cent.

However, the Pharma and Healthcare sectors saw significant losses. The Nifty Pharma index fell by 2.62 per cent, while the Nifty Healthcare index dropped 2.30 per cent.

Other sectors like Consumer Durables, FMCG, Metal, and Oil also saw minor declines.

In the broader markets, the BSE SmallCap index dropped by 2.19 per cent, while the BSE MidCap index fell by 0.51 per cent.

On January 27, both the Sensex and Nifty50 had ended lower. The Sensex lost 824 points, or 1.1 per cent, closing at 75,366, while the Nifty50 dropped by 263 points, or 1.1 per cent, to end at 22,829.

This was the lowest closing level for both indices since June 6 last year.