A ticker displays the stock price of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ) at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani with helping drive a $250 million bribery scheme, threatening to throw the Indian tycoon’s conglomerate back into turmoil just as it rebounded from a short-seller’s fraud allegations. | Photo Credit: Indranil Aditya

Indian equity markets staged a strong recovery in Friday’s morning trade, with the benchmark BSE Sensex surging 909.59 points or 1.18 per cent to 78,065.38 by afternoon, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 280.90 points or 1.2 per cent to 23,630.80, reversing the previous day’s losses triggered by allegations against the Adani Group.

State Bank of India emerged as the top Nifty gainer, advancing 3.73 per cent, followed by Tata Consumer Products at 3.31 per cent. Notably, Adani Enterprises rebounded 3.11 per cent, shrugging off Thursday’s decline. Grasim Industries and UltraTech Cement also posted significant gains of 2.56 per cent and 2.38 per cent respectively.

The positive momentum was broad-based, with 2,347 stocks advancing compared to 1,378 declines on the BSE. Market breadth remained strong as 140 stocks touched their 52-week highs, while 91 hit their 52-week lows. The number of stocks hitting upper and lower circuits stood at 245 and 254 respectively.

HDFC Bank, Axis Bank shares drop

Banking stocks contributed significantly to the rally, with the Nifty Bank index rising 569.05 points or 1.13 per cent to 50,941.95. However, some prominent banks bucked the trend, with Axis Bank dropping 0.35 per cent and HDFC Bank declining 0.14 per cent. Other laggards included Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, down 0.28 per cent, and Mahindra & Mahindra, sliding 0.10 per cent.

The rally extended to mid-caps, with the Nifty Midcap Select index gaining 82.60 points or 0.68 per cent to 12,247.25. The Nifty Next 50 index showed stronger performance, rising 1.66 per cent to 67,876.05.

Financial services stocks also participated in the upswing, with the sector index advancing 239.75 points or 1.03 per cent to 23,513.20, despite some banking heavyweights trading in the red.

The market’s robust performance came after a positive opening, where the Sensex had started at 77,349.74, up from Thursday’s close of 77,155.79. Trading activity remained substantial, with 3,884 stocks changing hands on the BSE by mid-day.

The recovery in Adani Group stocks, particularly Adani Enterprises’ strong performance, suggested improving investor confidence following Thursday’s selloff. The market showed resilience despite ongoing concerns about foreign institutional investor outflows, which had marked their 37th consecutive day of selling in the previous session.

Published on November 22, 2024