Mumbai: For about two hours on Monday morning, Dalal Street looked like it was heading for a fifth straight down day. By the close, the Sensex had added 482.92 points.
The index ended at 73,606.75, up 0.66%. The Nifty gained 153.20 points, or 0.68%, to settle at 22,753.20. Both had been much worse earlier: the Sensex touched 72,514.57 and the Nifty 22,387.35 in opening trade, before buyers came in for metals, pharma and healthcare stocks.
Fifteen of the 16 major sectoral indices closed higher. The Nifty Metal index rose 2.2% after losing 5.4% over the previous four sessions. JSW Steel gained 4.27% to ₹1,236.10 after reporting a threefold jump in September-quarter profit. Dr Reddy's Laboratories was the top Nifty gainer, up 7.08% at ₹1,316.60, after beating profit estimates, with domestic demand cushioning weakness in the US market.
Bank results helped. Kotak Mahindra Bank rose about 2.4% after a 29.5% year-on-year jump in standalone net profit. Bank of Maharashtra reported a 41.4% rise to ₹2,309.6 crore, Indian Overseas Bank ₹1,912.42 crore, IDFC FIRST Bank ₹1,045 crore and Bank of India ₹3,202 crore. Shriram Finance was the session's biggest drag, down 4.47% at ₹826.35, after it cut its annual loan-growth forecast and flagged higher credit costs.
The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 1.19% and the Smallcap 100 1.38%, a partial recovery from last week, when the two indices fell over 12% between them. The India VIX climbed about 2% to 17.14.
"Indian equities recovered from early losses, supported by value buying and strength in metals, power and healthcare stocks," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments. He added that high crude prices and caution ahead of three central bank decisions kept confidence in check.
Crude did ease. Brent fell about 1.4% to $115.09 a barrel, off Friday's near six-month high of $116.72, though attacks on Saudi infrastructure over the weekend kept supply risk alive. That is the arithmetic the rupee is fighting. It weakened for a third session, closing at 95.19 against the dollar, down 25 paise, as softer Asian currencies and firmer domestic bond yields weighed.
The calendar is crowded. The US Federal Reserve decides on October 28, the European Central Bank on October 29 and the Bank of Japan on October 30. Tata Steel, Waaree Energies and United Breweries report results on Tuesday.
Traders will watch whether the Nifty can hold above 22,600. A sustained close above 22,800 is seen as the trigger for a move towards 23,000.