Mumbai, February 23 – The Sensex and Nifty indices closed higher on Monday, driven by gains in PSU banks, auto, and financial stocks, as investor sentiment improved following the US Supreme Court's ruling against the Trump administration's tariffs.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 479.95 points, or 0.58%, to close at 83,294.66. During the session, the benchmark rose 671.44 points, or 0.81%, hitting a day's high of 83,486.15.
A total of 2,435 stocks declined, while 1,894 advanced and 168 remained unchanged on the BSE.
"The US Supreme Court's ruling against Trump's reciprocal tariff policy was welcomed by domestic markets. Investors are awaiting more clarity on Trump's revised strategy and the scope of renegotiations by other nations. A weaker US dollar and declining 10-year Treasury yields may add near-term caution in the global market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd.
The 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 141.75 points, or 0.55%, to close at 25,713. In the intraday session, it appreciated 200.2 points, or 0.78%, hitting a high of 25,771.45.
Adani Ports was the biggest gainer from the Sensex pack, rising 2.98%, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Larsen & Toubro.
Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Trent, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Eternal, Tata Steel, and IndiGo ended in losses.
"Sentiment improved largely in reaction to the US Supreme Court striking down earlier import tariffs, temporarily easing trade-related concerns and boosting risk appetite across global markets," said Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
The broader indices ended on a mixed note, with the BSE Smallcap Select Index gaining 0.41%, while the Midcap Select Index declined 1.56%.
"Sectorally, the IT index faced pressure from unresolved concerns over AI-driven disruption. Nonetheless, investors favoured domestic themes, with banks, power, FMCG, and consumer discretionary stocks gaining traction on expectations of resilient demand and economic recovery," said Nair.
Among the sectoral indices, PSU Bank increased the most by 1.4%, followed by Services by 0.97%, Hospitals by 0.89%, Healthcare by 0.76%, Power by 0.72%, Auto by 0.71%, Financial Services by 0.65%, FMCG by 0.54%, and Utilities by 0.52%.
Information Technology, Focused IT, Commodities, Private Banks Index, Bankex, Consumer Durables, Metal, and Realty ended in the negative territory.
The broader Asian markets closed higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbing 2.53%, while South Korea's Kospi went up nearly 1%.
Markets in Japan and mainland China remained closed due to holidays.
European markets were trading on a mixed note in the mid-session deals, with Germany's DAX slipping 0.44%, while Paris' CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 were trading flat.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.38% to $71.49 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 934.61 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors outpaced FIIs by purchasing stocks worth Rs 2,637.15 crore, according to the exchange data.
On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 316.57 points to settle at 82,814.71, while NSE Nifty advanced 116.90 points to close at 25,571.25.
