Sensex snaps 3-day slide; rises 639 points, Nifty above 15,820

Mumbai: Market benchmarks roared back to life on Thursday after a three-session losing streak as investors piled into IT, banking and finance stocks amid a bullish trend overseas.

A recovering rupee and optimism surrounding the flurry of initial public offers (IPOs) added to the momentum, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex soared 638.70 points or 1.22 per cent to finish at 52,837.21. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty vaulted 191.95 points or 1.23 per cent to 15,824.05.

Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping 5.65 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, L&T, Infosys and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, HUL was the biggest laggard, tumbling 2.27 per cent, even as the FMCG major reported a 10.7 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,100 crore for the June quarter.

Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and M&M were the other losers, shedding up to 1.73 per cent.

Market breadth was in favour of bulls, with 26 of the Sensex 30 stocks closing in the green.

According to Milind Muchhala, Executive Director, Julius Baer, Indian markets made a smart pull-back supported by the positive global set-up and a decent start to the Q1FY22 earnings season.

"Markets are clearly rewarding the stocks/sectors where the earnings momentum is strong (such as IT - especially midcap IT, cement, metals) or where growth visibility remains good (such as chemicals, healthcare, etc.).

Moreover, with the flurry of IPOs, which are seeing a very healthy response from investors, the related sectors are seeing interest due to benchmark valuations. Also with the headline index remaining steady at elevated levels, the broader market (Midcaps/Smallcaps) continues to witness a lot of excitement/participation," he said.

BSE metal, telecom, capital goods, industrials, power and IT indices rose up to 3.02 per cent, while the FMCG gauge ended in the red. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 1.52 per cent.