India stock market surges for second day; Sensex, Nifty close up 1.5% each

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): Indian stock indices surged for the second day. At the day's closing, the Sensex was up 1,131.31 points or 1.53 per cent at 75,301.26 points, and the Nifty was up 325.55 points or 1.45 per cent at 22,834.30 points.
The Biggest Nifty gainers were L&T, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, M&M, and Shriram Finance, while losers included Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and Tech Mahindra. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were the biggest contributors to Nifty gains.
All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with capital goods, consumer durables, auto, metal, power, realty, and media indexes up 2-3 per cent. BSE Midcap and small-cap indices rose over 2 percent each.
Sundar Kewat, Technical and Derivatives Analyst at the institutional Equity Desk at Ashika Stock Broking, attributes market rises to global cues.
"Taking cues from an optimistic Wall Street session on Monday (the domestic indices rose). Softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve might consider interest rate cuts later this year," Kewat added.
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, "The national benchmarks witnessed a strong recovery, driven by favourable global trends and domestic tail winds."
Nair added that the anticipated rebound in domestic earnings, along with a recent decline in the dollar index and lower crude prices, is expected to support this recovery.
"However, continued FII outflows, driven by higher risk-free rates and the appeal of markets like China--along with tariff uncertainties, keep investors cautious during this phase," Nair further noted.
A comfortable inflation number in February also somewhat supported the domestic equity indices, which were on a decline over US tariffs-related uncertainty and continued outflow of funds. Uncertainties around the tariffs were causing more volatility.
Since assuming office for a second term, US President Donald Trump has reiterated his stance on tariff reciprocity, emphasising that the United States will match tariffs imposed by other countries, including India, to ensure fair trade. This has likely kept investors on tenterhooks.
Sensex is now over 10,000 points below its all-time high of 85,978 points. It has slumped over 4 percent this New Year.
Weak domestic economic growth and corporate earnings have also been reflected in the domestic stock markets.
In 2024, Sensex and Nifty accumulated a growth of about 9-10 per cent each. In 2023, Sensex and Nifty gained 16-17 per cent, on a cumulative basis. In 2022, they gained a mere 3 per cent each.
Weak GDP growth, foreign fund outflows, rising food prices, and slow consumption were some of the hurdles, keeping many investors at bay in 2024. (ANI)