Nifty, Sensex off day's high as volatility mounts; IT stocks extend gains

Volatility and fear in the markets, measured by the India VIX gauge, spiked three percent

Domestic indices Nifty 50 and Sensex were off day's high and traded with modest gains during the afternoon session on April 23, amid heightened investor caution and volatility.

Around noon, the Sensex was up 180.24 points or 0.23 percent at 79,775.83, and the Nifty was up 50.60 points or 0.21 percent at 24,217.85. The market breadth weighed towards declines as around 1,399 shares advanced, 1,966 shares declined, and 111 shares unchanged.

The Nifty IT was the star of the show, galloping over four percent with gains led by IT services player HCL Technologies.

Shares of HCL Technologies jumped over 7 percent after the IT giant posted January–March quarter (Q4FY25) results that were largely in line with expectations. While most brokerages maintained a neutral stance, they acknowledged that the company’s FY26 revenue guidance came in slightly ahead of estimates.

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On the flip side, the banking gauge, Bank Nifty took a breather in trade after recording consecutive all-time highs over the past three sessions.

The broader markets continued their winning streak, with the midcap and smallcap indices rising around half a percent each.

Volatility and fear in the markets, measured by the India VIX gauge, spiked three percent, with the index near 15.8 levels.

Looking ahead, the earnings season is likely to dictate the market sentiment going ahead. Investors will be closely watching shares of Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj Housing Finance and LTI Mindtree, which are set to unveil their earnings report later today.

"Technically the market might move into an overbought territory soon inviting some profit booking. Investors should remain invested in high quality largecaps," said K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.