Markets near one-month high: Sensex soars over 1,100 pts, Nifty above 22,800 as bank, auto, metal stocks rally

Shriram Finance, M&M, L&T, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors were the top gainers on the index.

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex roared to near one-month highs on March 18, delivering their biggest single-day rally in nearly two months, as a wave of buying frenzy swept through Dalal Street. Auto, banking, and metal stocks led the charge, igniting a broad-based surge and extending the market’s winning streak for a second straight session.

At close, the Sensex was up 1,131.31 points or 1.53 percent at 75,301.26, and the Nifty was up 325.55 points or 1.45 percent at 22,834.30. About 2,715 shares advanced, 1,153 shares declined, and 117 shares unchanged.

The Nifty 50 logged losses for five months in a row starting October - its longest monthly losing streak in 29 years. The index is up 3.2% in March so far, trimming its losses since late September to 13.1% from 16.4%.

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Markets now turn their focus to the Federal Reserve's March FOMC meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, where investors widely expect rates to remain unchanged at 4.25–4.5 percent. Attention will also be on the updated economic projections set to be released Wednesday afternoon.

The market appears to have found a bottom, though the possibility of further corrections remains, says V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. Positive domestic indicators—such as a rebound in Q3 FY25 GDP growth to 6.2 percent, a 5.1 percent rise in IIP, a 16 percent jump in gross tax collections, a narrowing trade deficit, and CPI inflation easing to 3.6 percent—suggest a favourable macroeconomic backdrop. However, these tailwinds may not be strong enough to drive a sustained rally, given the looming risks from global tariff wars.

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The broader market, represented by the mid and smallcap indices also mirrored positive trends to outperform the frontline indices with gains of 2.2 percent and 2.71 percent, respectively. Despite today's performance, the two are down 14 and 18 percent respectively year-to-date. A host of analysts still believe that more pain is left in the space.

All sectoral indices ended with robust gains. Nifty Auto, Bank, PSU Bank, FMCG and Metal were the top performers, rising in the range of 1.5-2 percent each during the session. Nifty Pharma Consumer Durables, and Energy also rallied over 1 percent each.

In today's session, sugar stocks surged as sugar futures climbed to their highest level in nearly three weeks, driven by growing concerns over a potential supply shortage. Shares of leading sugar companies, including Uttam Sugar, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Rana Sugars, EID Parry India, and Balrampur Chini Mills, soared by as much as 20 percent.

Read more: Tata Motors to raise passenger vehicle prices from April

Paytm shares rallied nearly 8 percent after it notified that it has received SEBI's approval on Paytm Money providing services as a research analyst. Therefore, now the payment services platform owned by One-97 Communications will be able to provide SEBI-compliant research services, including investment insights, research reports, and data-driven analysis.

IRCON share price broke a 5-day losing streak, ending over 6 percent higher on March 18 after the company's JV bagged an EPC contract worth Rs 1096 crore. The contract is for the construction of a new secretariat complex including campus infrastructure on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) Basis in New Shillong City, Meghalaya, to be completed in 36 months.

Bajaj Finserv shares slipped 1.44 percent after the company announced it is set to take full control of its insurance ventures by acquiring Allianz SE’s 26 percent stake in Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for Rs 24,180 crore ($2.83 billion). The deal marks the end of a nearly 25-year partnership between the two firms, confirming Moneycontrol’s earlier report from January.

"The market maintained its upward momentum as expected, although it faced resistance near 22,580. However, the strong rebound suggests further gains ahead. While the earlier target was set between 23,000 and 23,500, the immediate upside is now capped at 22,750, with support moving up to 22,470," Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Shriram Finance, M&M, L&T, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors were the top gainers on the index. Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and Tech Mahindra were the major laggards.