Mumbai, March 5 (IANS) The Indian stock market made a strong recovery on Wednesday, with both the Sensex and Nifty closing over 1 per cent higher, as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted at possible relief on some tariffs for Mexico and Canada. This raised hopes that other tariffs might also be reconsidered, which helped cool off investors' sentiment. The 30-share Sensex surged 740.30 points, or 1.01 per cent, to settle at 73,730.23, after touching the day’s high of 73,933.80 in the intra-day trading session. The Nifty also ended the day on a strong note at 22,337.30, up 254.65 points or 1.15 per cent, breaking its 10-day losing streak. Earlier, Nifty had traded between 22,394.90 and 22,067.80 during the session. The index had previously lost 877 points or 3.8 per cent over the last ten trading sessions.

Analysts attributed the intra-day bull run to strong buying in auto, power, and tech stocks. “Technically, Nifty on a daily scale has formed a bullish belt hold candlestick pattern, suggesting strength,” said Hrishikesh Yedve from Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates Ltd. He added that till the index holds the support of 21,800, a short-term pullback towards 22,300-22,500 could be possible. Investor sentiment remained bullish as 46 out of 50 stocks in the Nifty index closed in the green. The biggest gainers included Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Adani Enterprises, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Power Grid Corporation, with gains of up to 5.15 per cent.

However, some stocks, such as Bajaj Finance, Indian Bank, HDFC Bank, and Shriram Finance, ended lower, with losses of up to 3.37 per cent. Broader market indices also followed the benchmark indices' upward trend. Small-cap stocks performed the best, with the Nifty Smallcap100 index rising 2.96 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap100 index gained 2.42 per cent. All sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green, reflecting a broad-based recovery across industries with Nifty Auto, BSE Power, and BSE Metal emerging as the top performers.

The broader markets also witnessed an uptrend, as both the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices rose more than 2 per cent, supported by strong buying activity. "Nifty witnessed a solid rebound as the 21,800-22,000 zone provided strong support. The index has moved up after two days of sideways trading. Besides, the RSI is in a bullish crossover and has risen from the oversold zone. In the short term, the trend is likely to remain strong, with the potential to rise towards 22,700 and higher. On the lower end, support is placed at 22,100/22,000," said Rupak De of LKP Securities.

/IANS