FINAL TRADE: Nifty ends above 24,850. Sensex gains 218 points; Axis Bank settles 6% higher

Amid a sharp recovery from the day's low, Indian equities ended sharply higher. At the close, Nifty ends higher by 0.42 per cent or 104.2 points at 24,854.05, while the Sensex ended 218.14 points or 0.27 per cent and closed at 81,224.75.

Nifty Bank outshined with stellar gains of over 1 per cent led by gains in ICICI Bank and Axis Bank among others.

From the Nifty pack, top gainers included stocks like Axis Bank, Wipro, Eicher Motors, ICICI Bank and Shriram Finance, meanwhile laggards included Infosys, Asian Paints, Britannia, Nestle and HUL.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services believes that investors may wait and watch for the market to stabilise and slowly accumulate largecaps like leading private sector banks beaten down by FII selling.

ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have the potential to give decent returns in the medium-term, he added.
Sectorally after initial hiccups, only FMCG, oil and gas and IT indices ended with losses, while private bank and financial services packs led with robust gains.

Atul Parakh, CEO of Bigul said, "FMCG stocks are currently experiencing a downturn, reflecting broader market trends. Several factors contribute to this decline, including rising inflation, which impacts consumer spending and sales in the sector. Additionally, higher interest rates can reduce disposable income, further dampening demand for FMCG products."

Infosys shares after mixed Q2 results ended with significant losses of over 4 per cent at Rs 1,885 per share.

Commenting on today's performance, Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said, "Markets reversed the 3-day fall as investors resorted to value buying in banking, metals and realty stocks which had seen sharp downfall in recent sessions."

Geo-political uncertainty coupled with sluggishness in the Chinese economy and persistent FII outflows from the domestic markets have led to caution, he added.

Meanwhile, European stocks traded mixed, with London's FTSE down, while French CAC and German DAX indices traded with gains. Also, Stoxx Europe 600 index traded with gains after tech shares staged a rebound.