Sensex, and Nifty rebound after days of downtrend today; BSE and NSE will remain closed tomorrow

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back sharply today after days of being on a downward trend. Continuous buying by domestic institutional investors also supported the indices, traders said. So far this month, FIIs have offloaded Rs 30,936.57 crore in the Indian markets, while DIIs have purchased Rs 28,852.88 crore during the month. Yesterday, FIIs sold Rs 1,403.40 crore of assets in the cash segment, while DIIs made purchases worth Rs 2,330.56 crore in the cash segment.

Snapping its four days of decline, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 239.37 points, or 0.31%, to settle at 77,578.38 points. However, a last-minute decline in Reliance Industries restricted the market rally. During the day, it zoomed 1,112.64 points, or 1.43%, to 78,451.65.

The NSE Nifty also bounced back after falling in the past seven trading days. It went up by 64.70 points, or 0.28%, to settle at 23,518.50. From the 30-share Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Titan, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, and Infosys were the biggest gainers. In contrast, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, Tata Steel, and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.

Amidst broad-based indices, Nifty smallcap 50 jumped 1.04% during the day, while India VIX inched up 3.26% during trading hours today. Nifty microcap also rose 1.05% during the day.

Oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.25% to $73.12 a barrel.

Both NSE and BSE will remain closed tomorrow on account of assembly elections in the state of Maharashtra.

Says Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, "Markets experienced a volatile session and ended marginally higher, pausing after the recent decline. Despite an initial uptick and a positive move in the first half, a sharp sell-off in the latter half erased all gains. The Nifty's movement reflects that bears are firmly in control, using every rebound as an opportunity to short. We maintain our “sell on the rise” stance for the index until a decisive reversal is evident while emphasizing a selective approach for stock-specific trades.".