Dalal Street began Thursday’s session on a firm footing as buyers returned after several sessions marked by weakness and caution. Positive signals from overseas markets helped lift sentiment, encouraging investors to step back into equities and push prices higher in early trade.
Both benchmark indices opened with clear gains, reflecting broad-based buying across sectors and stocks. The upbeat start indicated that market participants were once again willing to take fresh exposure after the uncertainty and volatility seen in recent days.
By 9:46 am, the S&P BSE Sensex had risen 785.92 points to trade at 82,695.55, while the NSE Nifty50 was up 251.60 points at 25,409.10. The strength of the opening underscored growing confidence among investors, who appeared reassured enough by recent developments to re-enter the market.
The rally was largely driven by relief in global markets. Overnight, Wall Street indices recovered a significant portion of their sharp losses from earlier in the week after US President Donald Trump said he would not move ahead with imposing tariffs on European allies. European markets, however, remained under pressure and slipped to a near two-week low, as concerns related to Greenland and potential trade tensions continued to linger.
Asian markets followed the positive lead from the US. Equity indices in Japan, South Korea and Australia traded higher after Trump spoke about the possibility of a “framework” agreement with NATO over Greenland. A broader regional index was also on track to end a three-day losing streak, adding to the constructive mood.
Investor confidence improved further after Trump ruled out the use of military force to take control of Greenland and dropped plans to impose fresh tariffs on European partners. These remarks eased fears of a wider trade conflict, which had been a major overhang on global equities in recent sessions.
Adding to the optimism, a report cited by Moneycontrol quoted Trump as saying that the US was “going to have a good deal” with India. This raised expectations of progress on a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries and helped support buying interest in Indian stocks.
Market participants also pointed to short-covering as a factor behind the sharp early gains. Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said that in yet another instance of what he described as a “classic TACO”, Trump had retreated from his earlier threat to annex Greenland by force. Instead, he said, the US President had spoken in Davos about having reached a framework for a future deal on the issue.
Vijayakumar added that the assurance that the US would refrain from imposing tariffs on Europe removed the threat of a US–Europe trade war, which had been weighing heavily on markets. He noted that the relief rally could gain momentum given current market positioning, with around two lakh short contracts outstanding, creating favourable conditions for short-covering.
On the earnings front, he said recent pressure on corporate profitability was unlikely to have a lasting impact on sentiment. According to him, third-quarter profits were affected by higher provisions linked to new labour code commitments, but investors were likely to look past this as it was seen as a one-time adjustment. He also highlighted Eternal as a standout among recent results, citing better-than-expected revenue and profit growth from its quick commerce business.
Early trade showed strong buying across the Sensex constituents. Eternal led the gainers with a jump of 6.51 per cent, followed by Mahindra and Mahindra, which rose 1.87 per cent. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone gained 1.83 per cent, UltraTech Cement advanced 1.26 per cent, and Bharat Electronics added 1.06 per cent.
There were no significant losers in the initial phase of trading. Stocks such as NTPC and Hindustan Unilever were flat, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries edged up marginally. This lack of selling pressure highlighted the broadly positive tone at the start of the session.
The rally was not confined to large-cap stocks. Shortly after the opening bell, the Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 1.43 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 1.12 per cent, indicating healthy participation from the broader market.
Market volatility also cooled. The India VIX, which measures expected market volatility, fell by 3.01 per cent, signalling that investors were becoming more comfortable taking on risk as global concerns eased.
All sectoral indices were trading in the green during early hours. The Nifty Auto index rose 1.05 per cent, Nifty Financial Services 25/50 gained 0.80 per cent, Nifty FMCG advanced 0.61 per cent and Nifty IT climbed 0.94 per cent. Nifty Media surged 1.47 per cent, Nifty Metal added 0.85 per cent and Nifty Pharma was up 1.09 per cent. PSU banks led sectoral gains, with the Nifty PSU Bank index jumping 2.06 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank, Realty and Oil and Gas indices also posted solid advances.
From a technical standpoint, analysts cautioned that key resistance and support levels remain important. Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, noted that recent upside attempts had struggled to sustain beyond the 25,300 level, keeping alive the risk of a further dip toward lower levels. However, he said the formation of a doji pattern near the lower Bollinger Band and close to the 200-day simple moving average could allow for a period of consolidation.
James added that a decisive move above 25,300 could change the near-term outlook, opening the door for further upside toward the 25,470–25,580 zone.
Looking ahead, investors are expected to monitor key global data releases later in the day, including Japan’s trade balance figures and US GDP growth numbers. On the domestic front, several companies are slated to announce their third-quarter results, including InterGlobe Aviation, Indian Bank, DLF, Bandhan Bank, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Total Gas, Cyient, Radico, Syngene and Tanla.
Overall, the strong opening reflected relief over global trade-related worries, optimism around improving US–India ties and technical short-covering. The market’s direction through the rest of the session is likely to be shaped by global cues, corporate earnings and investor reactions to key economic data.
