SENSEX, NIFTY surge over 2%; here are 10 things to know about Tuesday's stellar session

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap-up opening on Tuesday, April 15, and extended gains during the session. The 30-share BSE benchmark SENSEX rose as much as 1,750 points, or 2.32%, to hit an intraday high of 76,907.63, and the NIFTY50 index advanced as much as 540 points, or 2.36%, to hit an intraday high of 23,368.35.

With Tuesday's surge, Indian stocks erased all their losses triggered by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs earlier this month.

The SENSEX ended 1,577.63 points higher at 76,734.89 and NIFTY50 index advanced 500 points or 2.19% to close at 23,328.55.

Tariff relief from the US

The surge in the markets came after the US rolled back a large portion of its proposed tariffs. The Trump administration announced a 90-day pause on steep import duties, excluding China, and exempted electronics including smartphones and computers, fuelling optimism across global equity markets.

Investors wealth surges

With Tuesday's rally in markets, investors wealth soared by 8.86 lakh crore on the BSE, data from the stock market showed. Total market capitalisation of listed on BSE jumped to 4,11,21,738.03 crore.

Heavyweights jump

The 1,750-point surge in the SENSEX was powered by gains in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra. They collectively added over 1,000 points towards the SENSEX.

Boost from banking sector

Shares in the banking sector, which are major contributors towards the market moves, came under strong buying interest. The measure of banking stocks on the NSE – NIFTY Bank index – jumped over 2.5% after most of the banks announced interest rate cuts following the repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India last week.

All the 12 stocks in the NIFTY Bank index were trading higher, led by IndusInd Bank's 7% gain. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank, ICICI Bank, AU Small Finance Bank and Canara Bank also rose in a range of 2-4%.

Auto stocks surge

The NIFTY Auto index, the measure of 15 shares from the automobile space, rose 3.5% with all the constituents trading higher, led by Samvardhan Motherson's 7% gain. Bharat Forge, Tata Motors, Balkrishna Industries, MRF and Mahindra & Mahindra also rose 3.4-5.5%.

President Donald Trump on Monday hinted at leniency for automakers trying to shift production to the US, stating they needed “a little bit more time” to transition from sourcing parts from Mexico and Canada, which together account for 30–60% of US vehicle supply.

Asian markets rally

Major Asian indices extended gains following Wall Street’s rally. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.2%, and Taiwan Weighted jumped 2.78%, while Australia’s ASX200 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were also trading higher. Markets are betting on further exemptions to the US tariff measures.

US stock futures were also indicating a strong start as Dow futures rose 0.3%, S&P 500 futures advanced 0.35% and NASDAQ futures gained 0.46%.

Markets in Europe were also trading with a positive bias, with Germany's DAX rising 1.30%, England's FTSE100 rising 0.73%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index advancing 0.53%.

Sectoral picture

All the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher, led by the NIFTY Realty index's nearly 5% gain. NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Auto, Metal, Private Bank and Consumer Durable indices also rose between 2 and 3%.

Broader markets outperform

Broader markets were outperforming their larger peers as the NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 2.23% and the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 2.85%. The broader NIFTY 500 index advanced 2.33%.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the NIFTY50 index. The stock rose 7% to ₹736. Shriram Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among the top gainers.

On the flipside, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Nestle India were among the notable losers.

Strong market breadth

Market breadth was extremely strong as 3,223 shares on the BSE were advancing while 768 were declining on the BSE. 79 shares on the BSE touched their 52-week highs, while 46 touched their 52-week low price on Tuesday.