Indian stocks register marginal gains after Monday bloodbath

Sensex closed at 78,199.11 points, up 234.12 points or 0.30 per cent and Nifty closed at 23,707.90 points, up 91.85 points or 0.39 per cent.

Experts noted that the huge selling on Monday, driven by fears of HMPV cases in India, dented the entire market recovery. The outlook for the market remains under pressure.

The markets witnessed huge selling pressure on Monday due to panic selling. The detection of two cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in India, following an outbreak in neighbouring China, dampened investors sentiment.

"Amid positive global cues indicating no major concerns regarding HMPV, the domestic market partially recovered from yesterday's sharp sell-off but traded within a range ahead of the critical first advance estimates for India's FY25 GDP," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"This comes in the context of moderated growth expectations as the RBI recently revised its growth projection downwards. In the near term, the market is expected to remain cautious, awaiting signs of earnings recovery during the upcoming result season, while also dealing with ongoing FII selling which is driven by the strengthening dollar, rising US bond yields, and reduced expectations of further rate cuts."

Going ahead, corporate earnings for the October-December quarter will be eyed by investors.

Last Thursday, benchmark indexes logged their best session in six weeks.

The market is also expected to shift focus towards expectations from the Union Budget and the policy decisions of the Trump 2.0 administration.

The Sensex now remains nearly 8,000 points below its all-time high of 85,978 points.

In 2024, Sensex and Nifty accumulated 9-10 per cent each. In 2023, Sensex and Nifty gained 16-17 per cent, on a cumulative basis. In 2022, they gained a mere 3 per cent each. Weak GDP growth, foreign fund outflows, rising food prices, and slow consumption were some of the hurdles, keeping many investors at bay in 2024. (ANI)