Market Rebound Continues: Nifty Surpasses 24,100, Sensex Sees 356-Point Gain

Indian Equity Markets Stage Strong Rebound on Monday

The Indian equity markets staged a strong rebound on Monday, recovering from Thursday's sharp sell-off, supported by broad-based buying amid robust April auto sales data, easing crude oil prices, and positive political cues.

The benchmarks opened the week on a firm footing, with the Nifty 50 climbing close to the 24,300 mark in early trade. However, mid-session profit booking pared a significant portion of the intraday gains, though the index managed to hold above the 24,100 level at close.

At close, the Sensex was up 355.90 points or 0.46 percent at 77,269.40, and the Nifty was up 121.75 points or 0.51 percent at 24,119.30.

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Among the top gainers on the Nifty were Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Enterprises, Eicher Motors, Reliance Industries, and Jio Financial. On the flip side, laggards included Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, and Tata Consultancy Services.

On the sectoral front, metal, realty, infrastructure, and pharma indices gained around 0.5–1%, while IT, media, and PSU Bank indices ended lower.

More than 180 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE, including BHEL, Aster DM Health, CESC, Laurus Labs, Adani Green Energy, Aether Industries, HFCL, Schneider Infra, Bandhan Bank, Adani Ports, Adani Power, NLC India, Siemens, Kirloskar Oil, Bajaj Auto, Lloyds Metals, Aarti Industries, Vardhman Textiles, Hitachi Energy, among others.

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In stock-specific action, shares of Bharat Heavy Electricals surged 7.5% after the company reported a sharp jump in its Q4 earnings. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone gained 5.5% following a 15% year-on-year increase in cargo volumes to 43.1 MMT.

On the downside, Sun TV Network declined 5.5% amid a ruling party setback in Tamil Nadu, while Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped 3% despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings.

Among other movers, Baazar Style Retail rose 4% after the BJP emerged as the leading party in West Bengal, and Bajaj Auto advanced 1.5% on the back of strong April sales data. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea gained 3% after the Department of Telecommunications reduced the company's AGR dues to ₹64,046 crore.

The underlying trend remains positive with high volatility, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities. A decisive move only above 24,300 could possibly open more upside towards 24,600-24,800 levels in the near term. Any failure to sustain the highs could result in further consolidation or minor weakness in the short term.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, notes that investor sentiment remained supported by a favourable election outcome in West Bengal and a better-than-expected Q4 earnings, helping markets look past Middle East-related concerns. However, intermittent profit booking persisted amid uncertainty surrounding the U.S. "Project Freedom" initiative to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While the resolution path may take time, optimism around gradual progress continues.

Crude prices holding below $110 are providing near-term comfort. Going ahead, market direction will hinge on geopolitical developments and oil price trends, given their impact on inflation, interest rates, the rupee, and corporate margins.