Indices rally with help of PSU, infrastructure stocks

Benchmark indices staged a smart afternoon rally on Thursday with the help of PSU and infrastructure stocks, said S. Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

At close, the BSE Sensex stood at 66,265.56, up 385 points, or 0.58 per cent, while the Nifty50 index settled at 19,727.05, up 116 points, or 0.59 per cent. 

With a 13.5 per cent share of the market capitalisation, PSU companies have seen a robust jump from just over 9 per cent in 2021, even as several mid-cap state-owned entities have seen multi-fold rise in their stock values during this period, Ranganathan said.

ETF flows during late Thursday afternoon also helped large-caps recover lost ground, he added.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the domestic market initially opened with a lackluster performance, influenced by weak global cues. However, as the day progressed, a decline in US bond yields and crude oil prices injected some positivity into the market, he said.

This optimism was most prominent in banking stocks. Interestingly, mid and small-cap stocks managed to retain investor interest even though their valuations are relatively high. Nonetheless, the persistently weak trade data from China continues to cast a shadow over the global market's outlook, Nair said.