Sensex, Nifty: Why stock market is rising today

Benchmark Indices Sensex and Nifty jumped in Wednesday's trade as a couple of commentaries from the US suggested the trade war was easing. Stocks gained as the US President Donald Trump said he has 'no intention' of firing the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell. This is after he earlier signaled he may. Besides, Trump said US tariffs on China will be reduced 'substantially', even if they may not be nil. Add to that the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also suggested the high tariffs were unsustainable and that he foresees a de-escalation in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

These developments sent Wall Street indices soaring overnight and paved way for further gains for domestic stocks.

Elon Musk, meanwhile, also suggested he would pull back significantly from DOGE in May and would rather focus on Tesla. Musk's spending cuts and slashing of government workforce were seen hurting the consumer sentiment in the US. Wall Street stocks rallied overnight and the Asian market pack followed the suit. India was no exception.  
     
The BSE Sensex rose 594.24 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 80,189.83. HCL Tech climbed 6.45 per cent to Rs 1,575.60 after in-line Q4 results. Tech Mahindra (up 3.5 per cent), Infosys (up 3 per cent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.8 per cent) were some other top Sensex gainers.

Nifty stood at 24,348.40, up 181.15 points or 0.75 per cent. Nifty's technical outlook remains robust above its 200-DMA at 24,051. The next target for Nifty is pegged at 24,858, with immediate supports at psychological levels of 24,000 and its 100-DMA at 23,397, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities. 
 
"President Trump’s message that he has no intention of firing the Fed chief has calmed the US markets. Trump’s remarks on Chinese tariffs indicate that he might reduce the US-China tensions. The sustained buying by FIIs is a strong support to Indian markets," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.
 
Vijayakumar said the market might move into an overbought territory soon inviting some profit booking. Investors should remain invested in high quality largecaps, he said.

In overnight trade, Dow Jones settled at 39,186.98, up 1,016.57 points or 2.66 per cent. S&P500 advanced 129.56 points, or 2.51 per cent, to 5,287.76. Nasdaq Composite also climbed 429.52 points, or 2.71 per cent, to 16,300.42.

Asian markets had a rub-off, with markets from Hong Kong to Japan rallying up to 1.5 per cent. Gift Nifty also signaled a positive opening for the domestic market.

Provisional data available with NSE showed FPI bought shares worth Rs 1,290.43 crore on Tuesday. "The recent turnaround in FII activity, with over $2 billion in Indian equities bought in just four five sessions. After months of outflows, this surge reflects a shift in sentiment—driven by a mix of valuation, macro stability, and sectoral attractiveness," said Narinder Wadhwa, Managing Director & CEO at SKI Capital Services.