NEW DELHI: Domestic equity markets surged on Thursday, the second trading session of 2025, driven by optimism over improved third-quarter earnings. Robust performance by auto companies in December further bolstered buying sentiment, fueling the rally.
Benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and NSENifty50, gained about 2% with the former breaching the 80,000 mark in intraday deals.
At close, the Sensex was up 1,436.30 points or 1.83% at 79,943.71, and the Nifty surged 445.75 points or 1.88% to close at 24,188.65.
The sharp rally added more than Rs 6 lakh crore to investors’ kitty as the market capitalization of all BSE listed companies grew from Rs 445.94 lakh crore on Wednesday to Rs 452 lakh crore on Thursday. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) also joined the part as they were net buyers (purchased shares worth Rs 1,507 crore) on Thursday.
All the sectoral indices closed in the green. The auto index, led by heavyweight Maruti Suzuki, zoomed 3.5% and the IT index was up 2%.
“Increased momentum was observed in the domestic market, driven by optimism about the upcoming earnings season starting next week. The rally was broad-based, with most sectoral indices posting gains,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services. Nair added, “The auto sector led the way, showing the strongest momentum due to robust December sales that defied usual subdued demand.
Banking and IT stocks performed well, as the economy bottomed in Q2.” In Nifty50 pack, the biggest gainers were Bajaj twins, Eicher Motor, Maruti Suzuki and Shriram Finance. In the broader market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices added 1% each.
Shares of Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv soared up to 8.5% on Thursday, setting a positive tone for the financial sector. The optimism came after foreign brokerage Citi reaffirmed its ‘BUY’ rating on Bajaj Finance with an ambitious price target of Rs 8,150, an upside of more than 17% from its closing price on Wednesday.
Santosh Meena, head of research at Swastika Investmart said that the market had been extremely oversold for several days, with FIIs holding heavy short positions in index futures. “From a technical perspective, Nifty had been struggling to sustain above its 200-DMA. However, today it not only crossed the 200-DMA effortlessly but also managed to surpass the 50-DMA and 20-DMA levels. This momentum is likely to continue, with the next target being the 100-DMA, around the 24,600 level,” added Meena.