Dalal Street bulls made a roaring comeback on Thursday, May 15, with benchmark indices ending near record highs. The Sensex surged 1,200 points to close at 82,530.74, while the Nifty 50 jumped 395 points to settle at 25,062.10.
The rally was broad-based but led by largecaps, with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, and Tata Motors among the top contributors. The intraday high for the Sensex was 82,718, while Nifty topped out at 25,116, briefly gaining nearly 1.8 per cent.
Here’s what drove the rally:
1. Value buying in heavyweights:
Post recent consolidation, institutional buying in largecaps like Reliance, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Motors boosted indices. Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Adani Ports, and Asian Paints rose 2–4 per cent.
2. Hopes of a US-India trade deal:
Market sentiment improved after reports that India proposed a zero-tariff trade deal to the US. This raised hopes of renewed bilateral ties and future inflows.
3. Q4 earnings offer support:
Motilal Oswal said Q4 earnings from 27 Nifty companies so far showed 9 per cent YoY sales growth and 4 per cent PAT growth, beating Street expectations and fuelling bullish sentiment.
4. Macros in favour:
India’s CPI inflation eased to 3.16 per cent in April—its lowest in six years—strengthening the case for a potential rate cut by the RBI. Experts cited rising disposable incomes, govt capex and falling rates as key tailwinds.
5. Technical breakout:
A breakout above recent swing highs has triggered a fresh bullish leg. Analysts see near-term resistance at 25,360 and strong support near 24,400.
While BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also rose, they underperformed the largecap-driven surge. Total BSE m-cap jumped by Rs 5 lakh crore to Rs 440 lakh crore, signalling broad investor wealth creation.
Analysts advise a buy-on-dips strategy as long as key supports hold, with eyes now on potential policy and global cues.
Â
