Market Wrap, April 15: Bulls in the driver's seat, again; NIFTY ends above 23,300, SENSEX soars 2%; broader market outperforms

The Indian stock market soared over 2% on Tuesday, April 15, as market sentiment was boosted following a likely relaxation on auto tariffs and a rally in the global markets. Gains in the metal, auto, and financial sectors also supported the indices.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 76,734.89, jumping 1,577.63 points, or 2.10%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index settled at 23,328.55, soaring 500 points, or 2.19%.

The NIFTY50 index recovered all the losses from April 2.

The broader market also outperformed the main benchmark indices as both the midcap and smallcap gauges surged over 3%.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs. “I'm looking at something to help some of the car companies with it,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. The Republican president said automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico and other places. "And they need a little bit of time because they're going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So, I'm talking about things like that.”

This led to a rally in the auto stocks on Tuesday, with Samvardhana Motherson being the top gainer on the index, jumping 8%.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday said that major Asia Pacific economies like India, China, and Japan will see growth fall by 0.2-0.4 percentage points (ppts) over the next two years if the US implements the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2.

Globally, all Asian markets were traded positively. Taiwan’s index led the gains as Taiwan Weighted soared 1.74% to 19,857.67 levels.

Japan’s Nikkei also gained on the auto tariff pause development. Nikkei rose 0.83% with auto firm shares supporting the rally. The Kospi index was also up 0.87%. While China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.15% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 0.23% on Tuesday.

The US stocks closed higher on Monday. Rallying iPhone-maker Apple shares supported the S&P 500 as the White House exempted tariffs on smartphones, semiconductors, computers and certain electronic items.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 312.08 points, or 0.78%, to 40,524.79, the S&P 500 rose 42.61 points, or 0.79%, to 5,405.97 and the Nasdaq Composite ended 107.03 points, or 0.64%, higher at 16,831.48.

As many as 3,009 stocks traded on the NSE on Tuesday. Out of this, 2,547 advanced, and only 377 stocks declined, while 85 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 48 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 18 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 187 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 32 touched their lower circuit bands on Tuesday.

NSE-listed firms market capitalisation rose by ₹10.2 lakh crore at ₹409.61 lakh crore at the end of the session.

The volatility index India VIX declined 19.80% to 16.13 levels.

The broader market rallied on Tuesday, outperforming the main benchmark indices. The Nifty Midcap 100 index settled at the 51,974.45 level, rising 2.92%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index zoomed 3.08% to the 16,179.30 level.

All the sectors settled with gains on Tuesday, with Nifty Realty (5.64%) taking the lead. Nifty Financial Ex-Bank (3.53%), Nifty Auto (3.39%), Nifty Midsmall Financial Services (3.31%) and Nifty Metal (3.20%) were the other top gainers.

As many as 49 stocks gained on NIFTY50 index and ITC was the only losing scrip, falling 0.28%.

IndusInd Bank was the top contributing stock on NIFTY50 index, surging 6.67%. Shriram Finance, Tata Motors, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Axis Bank and Dr.Reddy's were the other top gainers, soaring as much as 5.17%.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer on NIFTY50 index, rising 6.67%.

The non-banking financial company (NBFC) will meet on April 17 to consider and approve its financial results for the January to March quarter (Q4) of FY25.

The company was trading at ₹162.06, up 5.10% as of 12:22 pm on the NSE.