Final Trade: Bulls make a comeback; Sensex zooms 1,436 points; Nifty closes at 24,189

Bulls returned to D-Street amid broad-based buying with the headline indices closing with sharp gains in Thursday's session. At the close, Sensex closed higher by a sharp 1.83 per cent or 1,436.3 points at 79,943.71 while the Nifty jumped 445.75 points or 1.88 per cent to 24,188.65.

From the Nifty pack top gainers included stocks like Eicher Motors, Bajaj twins- Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki and Shriram Finance, while the laggards were Sun Pharma and Britannia.

Sectorally, auto pack was the most resilient with gains of up to 4 per cent, followed by IT, consumer durable and financial services stocks. 

Within the auto basket, after record December sales figure, surpassing analysts estimates, Eicher Motors hit an all-time high and ended nearly 9 per cent higher at Rs 5,308- topping the Nifty gainers list. The strong sales driven by increased demand for SUVs and amid year-end discounts allays concerns pertaining to weakening sales as well as demand outlook in the domestic markets.

IT pack also was resilient after global brokerages exuded optimism on revenue recovery and better guidance ahead of Q3 earnings.

Positive domestic macros added to the buoyancy after the country's GST collection for the previous month scaled Rs 1.77 lakh crore. Also, on the positive side the conuntry's manufacturing sector exhibited resilience in December 2024, with robust job creation and strong export demand. 

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said, "Increased momentum was observed in the domestic market, driven by optimism about the upcoming earnings season starting next week. The rally was broad-based, with most sectoral indices posting gains."

The auto sector led the way, showing the strongest momentum due to robust December sales that defied the usual subdued demand. Banking and IT stocks also performed well, as the economy bottomed in Q2, he added.