Sensex, Nifty rebound in morning trade as foreign buying lifts sentiment

• Sensex and Nifty recover from a weak opening, with the benchmarks trading at 77,251 and 23,912.50 respectively

• Foreign institutional investors buy shares worth Rs 18,661 crore across five of the past six trading sessions

• Healthcare and pharmaceutical indices edge higher, while several other sectors remain under pressure in early trade

Indian equity benchmarks recovered from a subdued opening to trade higher on Wednesday morning, supported by improving foreign investor sentiment despite mixed signals from global markets.

The Sensex traded at 77,251, while the Nifty rose 101.65 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 23,912.50.

Both indices had opened lower. The Sensex began the session at 76,853.11, down 64.74 points, or 0.08 per cent, while the Nifty opened at 23,742.25, a decline of 68.60 points, or 0.29 per cent.

Analysts attributed the improvement in sentiment partly to a shift in foreign institutional investor activity. FIIs have bought shares worth Rs 18,661 crore across five of the past six trading sessions, reversing a pattern of selling that had weighed on equities.

On Tuesday, foreign investors recorded net purchases of Rs 6,836 crore, their third consecutive session of buying. Domestic institutional investors, however, remained net sellers for a third session, recording outflows of Rs 3,678 crore.

Market experts said corporate earnings and attractive valuations in large-cap stocks were supporting the recovery. They also linked renewed foreign interest in Indian equities to an easing of enthusiasm for the global artificial intelligence trade.

Large-cap shares capable of attracting substantial overseas investment could lead further gains, analysts said, with short covering potentially providing additional support. Leading financial stocks also had scope to advance, they added.

Sectoral performance was uneven in early deals. Consumer durables, realty and information technology indices fell by up to 0.79 per cent. Metal, energy, private banking and public sector banking indices also traded lower.

Healthcare and pharmaceutical shares showed relative resilience, with the Nifty 500 Healthcare, Nifty Healthcare Index and Nifty Pharma gaining up to 0.23 per cent.

Technical analysts placed immediate support for the Nifty at 23,500–23,600 and resistance at 24,000–24,200. The index remained above its 50-day exponential moving average near 23,196.

Its relative strength index stood at 66.59, signalling firm upward momentum, although analysts cautioned that profit booking remained possible. The put-call ratio improved to 1.30.

Global cues were mixed. Asian markets faced pressure from technology shares amid concerns over AI spending, while US equities had closed higher, led by the Nasdaq, as major AI stocks rebounded ahead of the US midterm election results. Apple, however, declined following disappointing earnings.

With IANS inputs