Stock Market Today: Sensex Rises Over 200 Points, Nifty Over 23,200

Analysts suggest that while talks of the US potentially lowering tariffs on China could offer temporary relief, underlying concerns continue to weigh on the markets.

Stock Market Today: Indian equity benchmarks, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, opened in the red zone on Thursday. The BSE Sensex was trading below 76,300, while Nifty50 hovered near 23,100. At 10 am, the Sensex rose by 200.73 points, or 0.26 per cent, to reach 76,605.72, while the Nifty gained 65 points, or 0.28 per cent, settling at 23,220.35. Of the total shares traded, 2,026 advanced, 1,041 declined, and 131 remained unchanged.

On Wednesday, Indian indices bounced back amid heightened volatility, following stronger-than-expected earnings from a major private bank. Analysts suggest that while talks of the US potentially lowering tariffs on China could offer temporary relief, underlying concerns continue to weigh on the markets.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “There are two trends in the market that deserve attention. One, the institutional activity is showing a consistent trend - sustained selling by FIIs and sustained buying by DIIs. Two, there is a trend towards quality - largecaps are resilient while the broader market is weakening. These two trends are likely to continue in the near-term.”

“Since the dollar index and US bond yields continue to remain high, FIIs are unlikely to turn buyers any time soon. This will cap a rally in the market even though the market is in an oversold zone. Largecap financials, IT and pharma can continue to support the market on declines,” he added.

Wall Street saw gains on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 reaching an intraday record high, driven by investor optimism following Netflix’s strong quarterly results and President Donald Trump's announcement of a private-sector AI infrastructure investment plan.

In Asia, stocks had a mixed start, reflecting the US rally spurred by hopes of increased artificial intelligence spending. Gold remained steady near its record high on Thursday as investors awaited more clarity from the Trump administration on potential tax cuts and trade policies.

The US dollar held steady against major currencies on Thursday, continuing its relatively unchanged position over the past two days as markets waited for more definitive updates on tariffs from President Trump.

On the domestic front, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) became net sellers, offloading Rs 4,026 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,640 crore. The net short position of FPIs increased slightly, from Rs 3.49 lakh crore on Tuesday to Rs 3.5 lakh crore on Wednesday.