Taking Stock: Banks take markets higher for 4th day; Nifty at 23,850, Sensex jumps 1,509 pts

Market Today

Indian equity market extended the gains on the fourth consecutive session on April 17 with Nifty crossing 23,800, led by buying across the sectors especially the financials. The market also got boost from a positive signal over trade deals between US and Japan.

Amid mixed global cues, the Indian indices opened on a negative note and witnessed a rangebound action in the first couple of hours. However, mid-session buying helped Nifty and Sensex to cross 23,850 and 78,600, respectively.

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.

Nifty Bank index surged 2.2 percent to close at 54,290.20, led by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, which are going to release Q4 earnings on April 19. The index closed 177 points away from its 52-week high of 54,467.35.

For the week, BSE Sensex and Nifty added 4.5 percent each.

All the sectoral indices ended in the green with telecom, PSU Bank, Oil & Gas, pharma, auto, energy, private bank rising 1-2 percent. However, the IT index remained under pressure due to a cautious outlook from Wipro, but later recovered and ended 0.2 percent higher.

Last night, US stocks ended sharply lower as Nvidia warned about steep charges from new US curbs on its chip exports to China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said US economic growth appears to be slowing.

Also Read - Here are the key factors behind market rally

Index	Prices	Change	Change%
Sensex	73,583.22	-1,690.23	-2.25%
Nifty 50	22,819.60	-486.85	-2.09%
Nifty Bank	52,274.60	-1,433.50	-2.67%

Nifty 50 22,819.60 -486.85 (-2.09%)

Fri, Mar 27, 2026

• 1D
• 5D
• 1M
• 3M
• 6M
• 1Y
• 2Y

Biggest Gainer	Prices	Change	Change%
ONGC	281.95	11.75	+4.35%

Biggest Loser	Prices	Change	Change%
Shriram Finance	903.80	-52.20	-5.46%

Best Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty IT	29541.65	-129.65	-0.44%

Worst Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty PSU Bank	8249.45	-331.60	-3.86%

Broader indices underperformed the main indices with BSE Midcap and Smallcap index added 0.5 percent each.

Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Eternal were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Tech Mahindra, Coal India and JSW Steel.

In stock-specific action, Wipro share price shed 4 percent on weak outlook, Sonata Software shares declined 6 percent on expectation of lower revenue from international business, Waaree Renewable Technologies shares rose 8 percent as Q4 consolidated profit, revenue jumped.

80 stocks on the BSE tested 52-week high, including Bharti Hexacom, Narayana Hrudayalaya, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Chambal Fertilisers, Interglobe Aviation, SBI Cards, HDFC Bank, Eicher Motors, among others. Click here to view full list

The market will remain shut on Friday, April 18, on account of Good Friday.

Outlook for April 21

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

After showing a range bound action at the hurdle of 200day EMA in the last couple of sessions, Nifty witnessed a decisive upside breakout on Thursday and closed the day higher by 414 points. After opening with a negative note, the market slipped into further weakness in the early part of the session. It later shifted into an excellent recovery from the lows and the upmove continued in the mid to later part of the session.

A long bull candle was formed on the daily chart, which indicates a faster upside retracement of recent down leg (9 days of decline has been completely retraced in 7 days of upmove). This is positive indication and indicates a significant trend reversal on the upside.

Nifty on the weekly chart formed a long bull candle with gap up opening. This is a formation of back-to-back long bull candles in the last two weeks. The unfilled weekly opening upside gap could be considered as bullish breakaway gap, which is more often formed at the beginning of sharp up trended movements.

The next upside levels to be watched around 24550 (61.8% retracement taken from Sept 24 top to April 25 bottom). Immediate support is placed at 23600 levels.

Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking

The market ended the holiday-shortened week on a strong note, rallying nearly 2% on the weekly expiry day, driven by favorable domestic cues. After a choppy start, the Nifty gained momentum as the session progressed, retesting its March high of 23,869.60 before closing at 23,840.10. All key sectors participated in the rally, with the banking index stealing the spotlight as it edged closer to its record high. While broader indices also moved higher, they underperformed relative to the benchmark.

Investor sentiment remains positive, supported by strong domestic fundamentals and the absence of any major global concerns. With the Nifty now hovering around its previous swing high near 23,800, focus will shift to the earnings announcements from heavyweights like Infosys, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank on Monday. We continue to advocate a “buy on dips” strategy, with a preference for rate-sensitive sectors for long trades, while remaining selective in other segments.

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