Markets rally in initial trade on foreign fund inflows, buying in Reliance, ICICI Bank

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back after falling in opening trade on Wednesday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.

Despite a weak beginning to the trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex later rebounded and went up by 93.05 points to 81,676.35. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 42.80 points to 24,896.20.

Later, the BSE benchmark traded 228.13 points higher at 81,812.04, and the Nifty climbed 82.25 points to 24,937.70.

From the 30-Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Titan, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were among the biggest gainers.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid, NTPC and Adani Ports were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,482.77 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought equities worth Rs 8,207.19 crore in the previous trade.

"It is important to understand that after the Covid crash which took the Nifty to a low of 7,511 in March 2020 we are in a bull market which has been climbing all walls of worries. The market is likely to climb this Israel-Iran conflict worry, too. Despite the high valuations, particularly in the broader market, the market is likely to remain resilient supported by sustaining strong liquidity and hopes of turn around in earnings," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index were trading in the positive territory while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng quoted lower.

US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.44 per cent to USD 76.79 a barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex declined 212.85 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 81,583.30. The Nifty dropped 93.10 points or 0.37 per cent to 24,853.40.