Despite Brent crude prices hovering around the $106 per barrel mark and the rupee hitting a new low at nearly 96 against the dollar, Dalal Street witnessed a strong rebound on Thursday. After an early slide, the Sensex rallied through the session to close 790 points higher at 75,399 points, as HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank boosted the index. The 1.1 percent jump in the index came despite a marginal Rs 187 crore net buying by foreign funds.
Market Resilience Amid Macro Challenges
According to Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, the domestic market staged a counterintuitive recovery from intraday lows and ended higher despite the rupee hitting a record low and crude remaining elevated. 'Investor confidence was bolstered in anticipation of potential government measures to mitigate rupee weakness, including consideration of bond tax relief for foreign investors and potential tightening of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme to stem capital outflows,' Nair said.
'Investor sentiment was further anchored by positive cues from the summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which raised hopes of expanding economic cooperation,' Nair added.
Wealth Creation and Sectoral Performance
The day's rally added about Rs 4.5 lakh crore to investors' wealth, with BSE's market capitalisation now at Rs 462.9 lakh crore, official data showed. On the sectoral front, telecom, healthcare, and metal stocks rallied, while IT stocks came in for strong selling.
'Going forward, persistent foreign outflows, elevated crude oil prices, and the rupee slipping to fresh record lows continue to pose key macro risks for the domestic market,' said Siddhartha Khemka, head of research—wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
