Sensex rebounds over 1,050 pts from day's low, Nifty reclaims 23,600 led by banking stocks

Market breadth was firmly in the green, with around 2,156 stocks advancing

Although the day began on a weak note, frontline indices Sensex and Nifty staged a notable recovery in the afternoon session on April 17, drawing support from positive cues across Asia-Pacific markets. Except for the IT sector, which came under pressure due to a cautious outlook from Wipro, all other sectoral indices moved into positive territory, aiding the broader market’s rebound.

Around noon, the Sensex had recovered more than 1,050 points from its intraday low, while the Nifty bounced back over 300 points to once again cross the 23,600 mark. Market breadth was firmly in the green, with approximately 2,156 stocks advancing, 1,138 declining, and 128 remaining unchanged.

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With the exception of the Nifty IT index—which slipped by over 1 percent—all other sectors were trading in the green. The Bank Nifty emerged as the top-performing sectoral index during the session, climbing over 1 percent, driven by gains in heavyweight stocks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. These gains came ahead of the banks' Q4 earnings results, scheduled for release on April 19.

Broader market indices also witnessed gains. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices were up by as much as 0.4 percent in the afternoon session, reflecting overall market strength.

Commenting on the Bank Nifty’s outperformance compared to benchmark indices, Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, noted that this move reflects investor response to India’s current macroeconomic environment.

Currently, India's march retail inflation dropped to nearly a 6-year low of 3.34 percent due to cooling off vegetable prices, further pushing the possibility of more interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India when it meets next in July.

Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President at Religare Broking, said that if Nifty continues to hold above the 23,400 zone—which aligns with medium- and long-term averages—there is potential for the index to move towards the 23,800–23,850 range in the near term. He also emphasized that the banking sector is a crucial driver for further upside, especially with several heavyweight earnings lined up for next week.

“As long as the Nifty remains above the 23,000 mark, one should stick with a buy-on-dips approach, particularly in financial stocks,” Mishra told Moneycontrol.