Nifty rose 180 points, or 0.7%, to close at 25,875. Sensex rose 595 points, or 0.7%, to end at 84,466.
“The exit polls from Bihar indicating an NDA victory, coupled with reassuring comments from the US President with a softened H-1B visa stance and on lowering tariffs on India, gave markets a boost,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration would be lowering the high tariffs levied against India which were implemented due to India’s high amount of Russian oil purchases, which have now come down.
IT stocks led the gains after Trump’s comments defending the H-1B skilled worker visa program were seen as a sign of the US President softening his stance on the matter. The Nifty IT index was the top gainer of the day, up 2%, followed by Nifty’s Auto, Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Durables indices, up nearly 1-1.2% each.
Chouhan said IT stocks led the rally, supported by a softer view on H-1B visas and some rotation of capital from richly valued AI names back into traditional software companies. Both indices have gained nearly 1.5% this week with technical indicators showing signs of continuation of this upside. The Nifty index also closed above the key resistance level of 25,800.
AgenciesIT index top gainer; Auto, Pharma & Consumer Durables also rise
“Wednesday’s gap-up open above 25,800 is the confirmation of a three-day, high-momentum reversal and technically, the market is signaling that the recent correction is over and the primary uptrend has forcefully resumed,” said Bhavya Shah, technical research analyst at Stoxbox.
Shah said the 25,730-25,640 zone remains the immediate support for Nifty while the upside is capped by the psychological resistance of 26,000 and further, the previous swing high of 26,100.
“The near term bias is bullish as long as Nifty sustains in this given range. A break on either side will give a further directional view on the benchmark index,” he said.
The Nifty Midcap 150 gained 0.8% to hit fresh 52-week high levels, while the Nifty Small-cap 250 rose 0.7%. Out of the total 4,373 stocks traded on BSE, 2,447 advanced and 1,764 declined at close.
On Wednesday, FPIs net sold shares worth ₹1,750 crore. Domestic institutions were buyers worth ₹5,127 crore.