SENSEX surges over 600 points, NIFTY50 reclaims 24,000; top factors fuelling market rally today

The Indian equity benchmarks surged for a fifth straight session in a row on Monday, April 21, powered by a rally in banking stocks. In intraday deals, the SENSEX rose as much as 643 points to hit an intraday high of 79,196.53, and the NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,036.

In the last five trading sessions, the NIFTY 50 index has jumped as much as 7.30% or 1,636 points, while the SENSEX has advanced as much as 7.24%, data from the stock exchanges showed.

Here are key factors driving the rally in the market on Monday:

Analysts say that bullish sentiment on Dalal Street got a boost from hopes that India will progress ahead with a bilateral trade agreement with the United States after US Vice President J D Vance landed in New Delhi on Monday amid the threat of growing trade wars across the world.

US Vice President JD Vance embarked on a four-day visit to India on Monday as the two countries seek to unlock economic opportunities and negotiate a bilateral trade deal.

Vance will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi for talks on the economy, trade and geopolitical ties. Vance's visit is seen as an important diplomatic mission by President Donald Trump's administration, and it coincides with a rapidly intensifying trade war between Washington and Beijing, which is New Delhi's main rival in the region.

A trade deal between India and the US could significantly enhance economic ties between the two countries and potentially strengthen diplomatic ties.

The US is also India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade valued at $190 billion until recently.

India's foreign ministry has said the visit will “provide an opportunity for both sides to review the progress in bilateral relations”, and the two leaders will “exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest.”

Meanwhile, reports of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal visiting the European Union and the United Kingdom for free trade agreement (FTA) talks also added to the positive sentiment, analysts said.

Strong Q4 banking earnings

A strong start to fourth-quarter earnings season by the country's top lenders also led to buying interest in banking shares. The NIFTY Bank index, the measure of 12 stocks from the banking space, rose to a record high of 55,291.05, powered by gains in ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

HDFC Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, reported a net profit of ₹17,616 crore, marking an upside of 6.6%, surpassing the street estimate of ₹17,000 crore. HDFC Bank's net interest income, or the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose 10.3% to ₹32,066 crore in the March quarter from ₹29,080 crore in the December quarter.

ICICI Bank, the country's second-largest private lender, also beat street estimates in the March quarter after it reported a net profit of ₹12,630 crore in the quarter ended March 2025, marking an increase of 18% from ₹10,707.53 crore in the same period last year.

ICICI Bank's net interest income, or the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose 11% in the January-March period to ₹21,192.94 as against ₹19,092.80 crore in the year-ago period.

Sectoral picture

Buying interest was visible across the board as all the major sector gauges, barring the measure of FMCG shares, were trading higher, led by the NIFTY Bank index's 1.7% gain. NIFTY IT, Metal, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Oil & Gas and Financial Services indices also rose over a per cent each.

Broader markets were also trading on a strong note as the NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 1.54% and the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 1.08%.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

As many as 38 shares in the NIFTY50 index were trading higher. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the NIFTY50 basket of shares; the stock rose 4.2% to ₹828. Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Trent, Shriram Finance and Infosys were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, Adani Ports, HDFC Life, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharma were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,566 shares were advancing while 1,090 were declining on the BSE.