Sensex rebounds over 1% on buying in power, utilities stocks; Nifty ends 10-day losing run

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex surged by 740 points while Nifty snapped a 10-day losing streak on Wednesday following value buying in utilities and power shares and a strong trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 740.30 points or 1.01 per cent to close at 73,730.23. The index jumped 943.87 points or 1.29 per cent to hit an intra-day high of 73,933.80.

Cutting short its record 10-day falling streak, the broader Nifty of NSE rebounded by 254.65 points or 1.15 per cent to settle at 22,337.30. During the day, it appreciated by 312.25 points or 1.41 per cent to a high of 22,394.90.

From the Sensex pack, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, ITC, Nestle India, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Asian Paints and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the gainers.

Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, and Zomato were the laggards.

"Strong global market cues led the recovery in domestic indices as talks that the Trump administration could reverse some tariffs amidst the ongoing global trade tensions buoyed sentiment," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Also, local factors such as an increase in the February PMI index also boosted the sentiment in the markets, Tapse said.

India's services sector activity witnessed a sharp uptick in February boosted by improving domestic and international demand, which resulted in a quicker expansion in output and a substantial increase in employment, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from January's 26-month low of 56.5 to 59.0 in February, indicating a sharp rate of expansion.

"India's services business activity index rose to 59.0 in February 2025, up considerably from January's 26-month low of 56.5. Global demand, which grew at its fastest pace in six months according to the new export business index, played a major role in driving output growth for India’s services sector," said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul closed higher. European markets were trading in the positive zone. Wall Street ended lower on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude decreased 0.49 per cent to $70.69 a barrel.

On the other hand, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,405.82 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.