Why did market rise today? Sensex soars 890 pts, Nifty closes above 24,250; 4 factors behind Rs 4 lakh cr gains on D-Street

Published 29 July 2026 · finance

The Indian stock market sharply surged on Wednesday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rising more than 1% each, despite a sharp increase in oil

The Indian stock market sharply surged on Wednesday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rising more than 1% each, despite a sharp increase in oil prices as US-Iran tensions escalated.Sensex soared nearly 889 points to close at 77,655 while Nifty gained around 265 points to end the session above 24,250. The sharp gains added over Rs 4 lakh crore to the total market capitalisation of all companies listed on BSE, pulling it up to Rs 483 lakh crore.Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Infosys shares were the top gainers on Sensex, jumping 4-5% each. Trent, Tata Steel, L&T shares followed, rising nearly 3% each, while those of Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, TCS, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal and Axis Bank gained 1-2%. Adani Ports however closed 3% lower to lead losses on the benchmark index after its Q1 earnings.India VIX, which is a measure of volatility in the market, dropped more than 4% to 12.01 despite the renewed uncertainties. Broader markets also traded in deep green, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rising up to 1.5%.Sectorally, Nifty IT and Nifty Metal jumped more than 2.3% each to lead gains, while Nifty FMCG surged around 2%. Bucking the trend, Nifty Realty and Nifty Auto slipped into the red.

The overall market breadth turned positive, with the NSE seeing 2,130 advances against 1,183 declines, while 128 stocks remained unchanged.Here are the 4 key factors pushing the market higher today1) Global AI selloff continuesIT stocks including Infosys and HCL Tech are among the top gainers on Dalal Street today. A large part of it may have been driven by India’s resilience to the ongoing global AI selloff. South Korea's Kospi, consisting heavily of chipmakers, crashed around 9% today while Japan’s Nikkei was down over 4%. Taiwan Weighted, meanwhile, dropped over 4%.This comes as India comparatively has a smaller number of large listed companies directly tied to the AI infrastructure boom, providing it resilience at a time when analysts are questioning whether the massive AI spending by hyperscalers will actually bear fruit in the future, triggering AI bubble worries.2) Rupee gainsThe rupee rose to a near three-week peak on Wednesday, backed by a rally in the stock market and traders trimming bearish positions ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day. The Indian currency rose 17 paise to close at 95.65 against the US dollar“Going forward, the rupee is expected to take cues from crude oil prices, the US Dollar Index, FII flows, and global risk sentiment.