Stock Market Report: Nifty50, Sensex Gain Almost 1% Each; IT, Bank in the Fray

The Indian benchmark indices ended on a positive note, buoyed by strong buying in IT and banking stocks. Drop in crude oil prices also steered optimism in the equity market.

While Nifty50 ended the session with a gain of 0.93% at 23,170, Sensex finished with gains of 0.90% (or 682 points) at 76,583. Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap 100 index and Nifty Smallcap 100 index surged by 2.32% and 3.32% at 52,724 and 16,540 respectively.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services commented on today’s performance saying “The Indian market has demonstrated resilience in anticipation of the upcoming Union Budget, with expectations of measures aimed at stimulating consumption and job creation. Small and mid-cap stocks experienced a relief rally, while key index valuations are trading at a 5-year average, which appears attractive given the strong long-term domestic outlook. Investors are now focusing on the upcoming FOMC meeting, with general expectations that the Fed will maintain its current hawkish stance.”

Outlook on IT

Following a rebound in Wall Street’s tech stocks, which previously landed in hot water over concerns of DeepSeek cheap AI platform, Indian IT stocks witnessed a steep rally today.

The Nifty IT index soared 2.62%, reaching 42,914.50 points. All 10 constituents of the index ended in green.

Motilal Oswal noted in its latest report that Indian IT companies are expected to benefit from cost-efficient AI platforms like DeepSeek's R1 model.

The brokerage said, “While most stock prices for most chip makers have reacted negatively as this implies much lower compute than earlier anticipated, we believe this could shift focus from capex to cost-efficient AI platforms, possibly benefitting Indian IT.”

Meanwhile, investors will be closely watching the Fed's interest rate decision, which is due later in the day. This is the Fed's first meeting after Donald Trump took charge as U.S. President for his second term.

Stock Market Report: Nifty50, Sensex Gain Almost 1% Each; IT, Bank in the Fray

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said, “The Nifty moved up, shrugging off two days of weakness. Though sentiment has improved slightly, overall weakness is likely to persist as the index remains below the 21EMA. On the lower end, 23,000 is likely to act as immediate support, and a fall below this level might trigger panic in the market. However, above 23,200, the Nifty could gather more strength.”