Sensex, Nifty rebound sharply after Budget-Day rout

Indian equity markets bounced back strongly in the final hour of trade on Monday, helped by late buying in heavyweight stocks such as Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, L&T, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. 

The Sensex recovered sharply from its intra-day low of 80,387.25. It jumped as much as 1,345 points to touch a high of 81,732 before closing at 81,666. The index ended the day up 944 points, or 1.17%.

Similarly, the Nifty moved in a wide range during the day. After hitting a low of 24,679, the index climbed to 25,108 and finally settled at 25,088, gaining 263 points or 1.06%.

The rebound came a day after markets suffered their sharpest Budget-day fall since February 2020. The recovery was broad-based, with midcap and smallcap stocks also ending higher.

The improvement in sentiment was reflected in the India VIX, the market’s fear gauge, which slipped 8% during the session.

Power Grid emerged as the top gainer on the Sensex, rising 7.6%. The stock rallied after the company’s management said its capital expenditure and capitalisation plans for FY26 were on track and that it was confident of exceeding its annual guidance.

Other major gainers included Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, M&M, L&T, IndiGo, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki and SBI. These stocks gained up to 4.6%.

On the losing side, only six Sensex stocks closed in the red. Axis Bank, Infosys, TCS, Trent, Titan and Kotak Mahindra Bank ended lower.

The broader markets also supported the rally. The Nifty Midcap index rose 0.9%, while the Nifty Smallcap index gained 0.6%.

Sector-wise, most indices ended in positive territory. The Nifty Auto index climbed 2.14%, followed by the Nifty Metal index, which gained 1.8%, and the Nifty Realty index, up 1.6%. The Nifty IT index was the only sectoral loser, slipping 0.5%.

In the commodity market, precious metals continued to remain under pressure. MCX Silver futures fell sharply by 6.4% to close at ₹2,48,600 per kilogram.

Gold prices, however, recovered from the day’s lows, with MCX Gold futures ending nearly flat, down 0.1% at ₹1,47,600 per 10 grams.

(This story was taken from syndicated feed and was only edited for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital team)