The top Sensex gainers included Adani Ports and SEZ, Tata Steel, Power Grid Corporation of India, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC and Tech Mahindra, followed by Tata Motors, ITC and Bharti Airtel.

The top Nifty gainers were Adani Ports and SEZ, Tata Steel, Adani Enterprises, Power Grid Corporation of India, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, Eicher Motors, Bharat Electronics Limited, ITC and Tata Motors.

Surprisingly, only 52 Sensex stocks were at their 52-week highs while 196 stocks were at their yearly lows. On Nifty, on the other hand, only 10 stocks hit their yearly highs while 70 hit their 52-week lows.

Why did markets rise?

Sensex ended a three-day losing streak on Wednesday while Nifty ended a 10-day streak of closing in the red. The reasons for such a shift in market performance are given as under:

US’ Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the US could announce pathway for reducing tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This has indicated a possible relief to tensions globally over a potential trade war breaking out.

• Rise in midcap & smallcap buying

Indian markets are witnessing increased buying in smallcaps and midcaps. The indices for the two stock types ended 2.80% and 2.66% higher on Wednesday despite the Sensex ending a little over 1% higher.

• Asian markets going strong

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose nearly 2% amid China’s plans to stimulate the economy. Japan’s Nikkei also rose, leading to an overall positive trend in the domestic equity market.

As the markets had fallen below its major support level of 22,000 on Tuesday, it presented a buying opportunity for investors, thus boosting markets. “The recent sell-off breached multiple support levels, but oversold conditions in the market presented buying opportunities, setting the stage for a potential short-term rebound,” Rajesh Bhosale, analyst at Angel One, told Reuters.