Bulls fight back! Sensex surges 800 pts, Nifty above 23,850 amid global cues; banks, metals rally

Shriram Finance, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Bajaj Finance, and Tata Steel were the top gainers on the Nifty.

Nifty and Sensex broke free from a five-day losing streak on December 23 and continued the positive momentum seen at opening , led by heavyweight HDFC Bank and metals and tracking gains in regional peers on the back of benign US inflation data. The rebound comes in the wake of a tumultuous week that saw the benchmarks suffer their steepest fall since June 2022, with the Nifty plunging 10 percent from record highs into a technical correction.

At 11:35 am, the Sensex was up 829.02 points or 1.06 percent at 78,870.61, and the Nifty was up 268.75 points or 1.14 percent at 23,856.25. About 1,755 shares advanced, 1,661 shares declined, and 166 shares unchanged.

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"This is just a small bounce back, not a structural shift," says Aishvarya Dadheech, Founder and CIO of Fident Asset Management, in a conversation with Moneycontrol. "With the Nifty now 10 percent off its highs, it's encouraging to see froth being taken care of. This could pave the way for valuation comfort and set the stage for the next leg of the bull run," he added. Dadheech also added low FII selling volumes due to the holiday period will contribute to the bounce back.

All sectors traded in the green, with notable gains in Nifty Bank, Metal, and Realty, rising 1.2 percent, 1.5 percent, and 2 percent, respectively. Leading lenders like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, and Axis Bank drove the banking index higher. From the metal pack, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Coal India, and Vedanta saw gains of 1-2 percent. Nifty IT also climbed nearly 1 percent, buoyed by TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, and Wipro.

The FMCG index, which had declined 16 percent over the past three months, saw a welcome rebound of nearly 1 percent, supported by bellwether Hindustan Unilever and major players like ITC, Nestle, and Varun Beverages.

The mid and small-cap indices echoed the positive sentiment, rallying 0.7 and 0.2 percent. Dadheech favours the broader market over large caps in the short term, noting their resilience during the bear market. He believes continuous FII selling is more likely to weigh on large-cap stocks. However, Dadheech remains bullish on the banking and IT sectors among large caps.

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Among individual names, construction major L&T rose over a percent after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it has signed a Rs 7,628.70-crore contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for procuring 155 mm/52 calibre K9 VAJRA-T self-propelled tracked artillery guns for the Indian Army.

Bharat Global Developers shares crashed to their lower circuit of five percent in the early session on December 23, after market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India suspended trading in the stock until further orders. The regulator has also barred the company’s promoters from accessing capital markets indefinitely.

India Cements share rallied 9 percent after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of the company by UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement player. The company will acquire 10.13 crore equity shares (32.72% equity stake) held by the promoters and the other shareholders in India Cements.

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"After a positive opening, Nifty can find support at 23,600 followed by 23,500 and 23,400. On the higher side, 23,900 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,000 and 24,200," Hardik Matalia, Derivative Analyst at Choice Broking, said. "The charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 50,500 followed by 50,200 and 49,900. If the index advances further, 51,200 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 51,500 and 51,800," he added.

Shriram Finance, JSW Steel, Trent, Grasim, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty. Laggards included HDFC Life Insurance, TCS, M&M, Power Grid Corp and Bajaj Auto.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.