Equity benchmarks surrendered early gains in Thursday’s afternoon session, even as midcap stocks showed resilience and small-caps managed mild advances. The pullback in frontline indices came after a strong start, driven by easing geopolitical concerns and positive global cues.

Asian markets traded higher. Meanwhile, safe-haven demand pushed precious metals higher, with gold and silver prices witnessing a sharp surge amid volatility and currency movements.

BSE Sensex had jumped 619 points to 78,730.32 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty climbed 169.65 points to 24,400.95, supported by optimism around progress in restarting US–Iran negotiations, which helped cool crude oil prices. Fresh foreign fund inflows and a positive global market trend also boosted sentiment initially.

However, by 12.35 pm, both indices slipped into the red, with the Sensex down 324.86 points or 0.42 per cent at 77,786.38, and the Nifty 50 falling 93.50 points or 0.39 per cent to 24,137.80.

Broader markets, however, held relatively firm. Midcap stocks remained resilient, while smallcaps posted modest gains. Sectoral trends were mixed, with metal stocks outperforming, rising over 1 per cent. The IT index also edged higher ahead of Wipro’s Q4 results.

On the downside, banking, financials, healthcare and realty stocks saw selling pressure.

Hindalco, Trent, BEL lead Nifty 50 gainers

Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Hindalco Industries, Trent, Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics and Larsen & Toubro led gains. In contrast, Titan Company, Apollo Hospitals, ONGC, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank were among the top laggards.

Market breadth remained positive, with 1,678 stocks advancing out of 3,180 traded on the NSE, while 1,408 declined and 94 remained unchanged. As many as 87 stocks hit 52-week highs, including GMDC, Vedanta, MTAR Technologies, Thangamayil Jewellery, Adani Energy Solutions and Granules India, while only three stocks touched 52-week lows.

Additionally, 120 stocks hit the upper circuit and 21 touched the lower circuit.

Among the most active equities by traded value, GMDC led the charts with a traded value of ₹3,10,232.76 lakh, followed by HDFC Bank at ₹2,37,578.92 lakh and Reliance Industries at ₹1,95,372.56 lakh. GAIL India also saw strong activity with ₹1,75,487.31 lakh in traded value, while ICICI Bank recorded ₹1,63,503.90 lakh.

The high traded values indicate sustained investor interest, particularly in GMDC amid its sharp rally, alongside continued traction in heavyweight banking and energy stocks.

Midcap & smallcap movers

In the midcap space, Radico Khaitan, National Aluminium Company, ICICI Lombard, Oracle Financial Services Software, Coforge and YES Bank rose 2–3 per cent. On the flip side, Astral, Supreme Industries, GMR Airports and Hero MotoCorp declined 2–5 per cent.

Among smallcaps, GMDC, Firstsource Solutions, Swan Energy and Aptus Value Housing Finance surged between 6 per cent and 19 per cent. Meanwhile, Poonawalla Fincorp, Deepak Fertilisers, Piramal Finance, CG Power and Industrial Solutions and Meesho fell 2–3 per cent.

On the BSE, GMDC, Firstsource Solutions, Sonata Software and NLC India rallied 11–18 per cent, while Mahindra Lifespace Developers and Tejas Networks were among the top losers.

Stocks such as Wipro, HDFC Life Insurance, HDFC Asset Management Company, CRISIL, Angel One, Waaree Renewable Technologies and Alok Industries will be in focus as they are set to announce their Q4 results. Meanwhile, HDB Financial Services, ICICI Lombard, Elecon Engineering, Hathway Cable & Datacom and Tejas Networks shares reacted to the Q4 performance announced yesterday. FOLLOW OUR Q4 LIVE

On Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher.

Domestic market: Sensex settled 1263.67 points or 1.64 per cent higher at 78,111.24, and Nifty 50 soared 388.65 points or 1.63 per cent to 24,231.30. FIIs bought equities worth ₹666.15 crore.

Published on April 16, 2026