Markets gain for 4th day: Sensex, Nifty rally nearly 2% as bank, oil & gas stocks bolster sentiment

Zomato (Eternal), ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on the Nifty.

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex extended their fantastic run for a fourth straight session on April 17, buoyed by strong gains in bank and oil & gas stocks that lifted market sentiment. The surge added a massive Rs 4.96 lakh crore to the overall market capitalisation.

The Bank Nifty emerged as the top-performing sectoral index, climbing over 2 percent, driven by gains in heavyweight stocks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. These gains came ahead of the banks' Q4 earnings, scheduled for release on April 19.

At close, the Sensex was up 1,508.91 points or 1.96 percent at 78,553.20, and the Nifty was up 414.45 points or 1.77 percent at 23,851.65. About 2340 shares advanced, 1468 shares declined, and 149 shares unchanged.

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“India, being a consumption-led economy, is likely to be among the least affected by the ongoing tariff disputes. The US considers India one of its key allies—alongside the UK, Japan, and South Korea—and is expected to prioritise trade agreements with these nations. If such a deal materialises, India could emerge as a beneficiary of the US-China trade war,” said Kranthi Bathini, Director of Equity Strategy at WealthMills Securities.

“The rally appears to be more than just a short-term pullback, as it is supported by broad-based participation, especially from large-cap names and banking and financial stocks. The Bank Nifty index is now trading close to its all-time high, reflecting strong sectoral support,” said Ruchit Jain, Vice President of Technical Research at Motilal Oswal.

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Jain pointed out that foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who had been largely net sellers in the past, have begun showing renewed interest. Although their positions in index futures are still skewed toward shorts—with the long-short ratio currently around 28 percent—he expects that they may start covering those short positions, potentially providing further upward momentum.

In today's session, the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap 100 indices also mirrored positive trends with gains of 0.6 and 0.4 percent, respectively. Nifty Bank was the sectoral leader with gains of over 2 percent. Auto, Pharma, Oil & Gas, and PSU Bank followed suit, each posting sharp upmoves of over a percent. Nifty FMCG, Metal, and Realty clocked gains of 0.7 percent. On the flip side, Nifty IT was the sole laggard, falling 0.35 percent following a cautious outlook from Wipro.

Technically, the Nifty surpassing the earlier resistance zone of 23,800–23,850 signals strength, and Jain believes the rally can extend towards 24,200. He also noted that the market structure is beginning to form higher highs and higher lows—a key indicator of a sustainable uptrend. This is especially significant as such a structure hasn’t been seen since October last year.

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EPC player Gensol Engineering Ltd.'s shares extended their losing streak on April 17, crashing another 5 percent. The losses come after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) passed an interim order against the firm and its promoters, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, over alleged fund diversion. The regulator has prohibited the promoters from taking up any directorial or key managerial roles and has restricted them from trading in securities. Additionally, the Jaggi brothers have been barred from accessing the market.

HDFC AMC saw a 2 percent at the fag end of the session after its standalone net profit rose by 18 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 638 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25, as compared to Rs 541 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The company’s revenue also saw a strong increase, rising 30 percent YoY to Rs 901 crore in Q4FY25, up from Rs 695 crore in Q4FY24. However, the company’s other income declined by 21 percent YoY to Rs 123 crore in Q3FY25.

Zomato (Eternal), ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on the Nifty. Wipro, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Hero MotoCorp, and Coal India were the top laggards.

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