Dalal Street witnessed a sharp revival during the final trading hours on Friday, September 18, as aggressive value buying across broad-market counters sparked a rapid turnaround from intra-day troughs. Benchmark indices staged a coordinated late-session sprint led by domestic institutional participation and broad-based sectoral accumulation, pushing the NSE Nifty 50 toward the 23,350 territory with an intra-day leap of nearly 70 points. Concurrently, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged past the 74,500 psychological milestone, advancing over 200 points to counteract severe selling pressure across heavyweights within the Information Technology space and select Tata Group constituents.
Crude Oil Tumbles Below $103 to Spark Risk-On Buying Across Dalal Street
The catalyst triggering the afternoon market breakout emerged from international commodity bourses as benchmark Brent crude futures dropped nearly 2 percent to hover around $102.70 per barrel. Given that the Indian economy imports the vast majority of its crude requirements, the sharp correction in international oil benchmarks eased concerns over expanding trade deficits, macroeconomic inflation, and imported cost burdens. A concurrent easing in the market volatility gauge, India VIX—which slipped approximately 3 percent—signaled subsiding near-term risk perceptions, encouraging institutional and retail desk traders to accumulate oversold positions heading into the weekend close.
Rupee Strengthens to 95.71 Per Dollar as Midcap, Smallcap, and Realty Stocks Rally
Foreign exchange stability added traction to the afternoon momentum, with the Indian rupee advancing nearly 0.2 percent to trade around 95.71 against the US greenback, buoyed by the crude cool-off and domestic institutional liquidity. The broader market demonstrated resilient depth, proving the rally extended well beyond frontline benchmarks. Real estate, cement, and media counters led the sector charts, complemented by solid demand in infrastructure, chemicals, metals, and banking names. While heavyweight IT firms and Tata Group stocks faced profit-booking, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices advanced firmly, underscoring broad-based investor confidence across secondary markets.