Stock Market Highlights: Nifty, Sensex Close Higher After Tuesday’s Slump As Tech Stocks Power Rally

Gains in information technology stocks powered Indian benchmarks higher in the last two hours as US President Donald Trump's plans for artificial intelligence offset trade tariff risks.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 566 points or 0.75%, up at 76,404, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 130.7 points or 0.57%, higher at 23,135.5. Intraday, the NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.63% to 23,169.5, and the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.82% to 76,463.1.

Technically, after the intraday correction, the Nifty found support near 23,000 and bounced back sharply, Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, said. "However, the short-term trend of the market remains weak."

Trump pushed to make the US an AI superpower by having fewer guardrails. He halted the implementation of key safety and transparency requirements for AI developers.

IT bellwethers Infosys Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., and Wipro led the gain in the Nifty in early trade. All three companies surged over 2% during the session, while Tech Mahindra shares rose over 1%.

Stocks in China fell after Trump said he was still considering a 10% tariff on all goods from the country. Health care and technology stocks were among the biggest gainers in Europe. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 hinted at a strong start for Wall Street.

For day traders, 23000 (Nifty) / 75850 (Sensex) would act as a crucial support zone, Chouhan said. If the index stays above this level, the pullback formation is likely to continue, he said.

Infosys Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., led the advance in Nifty 50 index.

Tata Motors Ltd., Bharat Electronics Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Trent Ltd. weighed on the benchmark index.

A sustained bullish momentum will only emerge if Nifty closes above 23,500, where the 21-day exponential moving average is positioned, according to Vatsal Bhuva, technical analyst at LKP Securities. "Until then, a cautious approach is advised."

Nine out of the 12 sectors on the NSE declined, with Nifty Realty and Nifty Media falling the most on Wednesday. Nifty IT rose the most in trade.

On BSE, 15 sectors declined, and six advanced out of 21. The BSE Focused IT rose the most, while the BSE Realty declined the most.

Broader markets underperformed benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 1.20% and 1.56% down, respectively.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,799 stocks declined, 1,149 stocks advanced, and 11 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.