Market Wrap, April 23: SENSEX ends above 80K mark, NIFTY50 reclaims 24,300 level; IT sector outshines, HCL Tech soars over 7%

The Indian stock market on Wednesday, April 23, settled higher following a strong rally in the information technology sector and midcap stocks. Positive global cues also boosted the market sentiment.

The SENSEX closed above the 80,000 level for the first time since December 2024, while NIFTY50 ended at a 4-month high.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 80,116.49, jumping 520.90 points, or 0.65%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index soared 161.70 points, or 0.67%, at the 24,328.95 level.

Further, there was some encouragement in markets as the HSBC flash India Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, climbed to 60.0, up from 59.5 in March, the strongest pace of combined manufacturing and services growth since August.

The market breadth remained neutral as 1,516 stocks advanced on the NSE out of 2,931 traded.

On the broader market, midcap stocks outperformed as they gained over 1%.

Among sectors, IT and auto were the top performers, while the banking sector took a breather from its rally on Wednesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,290.43 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Globally, the US markets closed higher on better earnings expectations and easing of trade tensions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1,016.57 points, or 2.66%, to 39,186.98, the S&P 500 jumped 129.56 points, or 2.51%, to 5,287.76 and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 429.52 points, or 2.71%, to 16,300.42.

The market investors in the US were also relieved after President Donald Trump said that he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The sentiment was further supported as Trump also hinted at easing trade negotiations with China.

Tracking the gains on Wall Street, the Asian markets were mostly positive.   Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.86% to 34,868.63. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.54% to the 2,525.56 level.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 2.31% to 22,072.62, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, falling 0.10% at the 3,296.36 level.

As many as 2,931 stocks traded on the NSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 1,516 advanced, and 1,340 stocks declined, while 75 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 stood at ₹427.93 lakh crore at the end of the session.

The volatility index India VIX rose 4.79% to 15.96 levels.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index settled at the 55,041.10 level, rising 1.18%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.44% to the 16,969.75 level.

Nifty IT was the top contributing sector, surging 4.34% on Wednesday, followed by Nifty Auto (2.38%), Nifty Pharma (1.40%), Nifty Realty (1.33%) and Nifty Metal (0.78%).

Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.96%), Nifty Private Bank (-0.75%), Nifty PSU Bank (-0.57%), and Nifty Media (-0.09%) were among the top losing sectors.

HCL Technologies was the top gainer on the NIFTY 50 index, soaring 7.74%. Tech Mahindra (4.76%), Tata Motors (4.44%), Wipro (3.87%) and Infosys (3.75%) were the other top gainers on the index.

While HDFC Bank (-2.09%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-2.09%), Grasim (-1.98%), State Bank of India (-1.98%) and Eicher Motors (-0.93%) were the top losers on the 50-share index.

On the National Stock Exchange, HCL Technologies shares surged 7.74% to close at ₹15,94.40 apiece.

At the time of writing this article, Hero MotoCorp was up 1.20%, TVS Motor was trading 1.52% higher, while Bajaj Auto was trading flat.

The stock climbed 14.76% to ₹3,002 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at close.

The renewable energy company logged a 34.1% jump in its consolidated post-tax profit to ₹618.91 crore in the March quarter of FY25 as against ₹461.52 crore in the same period the previous year.