Market Wrap, April 2: SENSEX soars 593 pts, NIFTY50 ends above 23,300 mark ahead of Trump’s tariff; broader market outperforms

The Indian benchmark equity indices on Wednesday, April 2, settled higher, snapping two days of decline. The market sentiment was supported by a rally in the broader market which outperformed the main indices.

However, the market investors remained cautious ahead of US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at the 76,617.44 level, gaining 592.93 points, or 0.78%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index ended at 23,332.35, rising 166.65 points, or 0.72%.

All the sectoral indices closed positive on Wednesday. Gains in the realty, IT and consumer durables sectors also added to the optimism.

The market breadth remained in favour of bulls as 2,148 stocks advanced out of 2,977 traded on the 50-share index.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) snapped their buying streak on the seventh day as they sold Indian equities worth ₹5,901 crore. On the flip side, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹4,322 crore on Tuesday.

Globally, the US markets closed mixed on Tuesday. Though the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both closed higher, the Dow Jones slipped into the red.

The S&P 500 settled at 5,633.07 points, gaining 21.22 points, or 0.38%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 150.60 points, or 0.87%, to 17,449.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 11.80 points, or 0.03%, lower at 41,989.96.

Asian stocks were also trading mixed ahead of the tariff plans announcement. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.28%, while South Korea's benchmark index, Kospi, was 0.62% lower at the 2,505.86 level.

Elsewhere, Chinese stocks remained mixed as Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.2% lower, while the Shanghai Composite closed 0.05% up at 3,350.13.

As many as 2,977 stocks traded on the NSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 2,148 advanced while only 757 stocks declined, and 72 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 39 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 43 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 247 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and only 26 touched their lower circuit bands on Wednesday.

Market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms stood at ₹410.79 lakh crore.

The volatility index India VIX slipped 1.26% to 13.30 levels.

The broader market staged a stellar performance as Nifty Midcap 100 settled 1.61% higher at the 52,053.20 level, while Nifty Smallcap 100 surged 1.12% to the 16,162.45 mark.

Nifty Realty (3.61%), Nifty Consumer Durables (2.51%), Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom (1.42%), Nifty Midsmall Financial Services (1.31%) and Nifty FMCG (1.13%) were the top gainers on the sectoral indices.

Tata Consumer Products was the most contributing stock on NIFTY50, jumping 6.91%. Zomato, Titan Company, IndusInd Bank and Tech Mahindra were the other top gaining scrips, rising as much as 4.80%.

Bharat Electronics, Nestle India, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid were the biggest losing stocks on the NSE, falling as much as 3.27%.  

The stock was in heavy demand after a report by global broking firm Goldman Sachs.

Infosys Topaz, an artificial intelligence (AI)-first offering using generative AI technologies, powers Stats Center, which will improve fan engagement by providing advanced data-driven insights.

At 11:50 AM, shares of RITES were trading 1.11% lower at ₹227.64 apiece on the National Stock Exchange.