Indian share indices ended Wednesday's session with sizeable gains, led by strength in Real Estate, Auto and Banking stocks. At the close on the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty 50 was up 3.78%. The BSE Sensex 30 finished higher by 3.95%.
On the Nifty 50, Shriram Finance Ltd. (NSE:SHMF) was the session's top performer, jumping 10.12% - a rise of 94.15 points - to close at 1,024.80. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (NSE:TAMO) gained 8.70%, or 26.85 points, to finish at 335.55. Adani Enterprises Ltd (NSE:ADEL) also recorded a strong advance, rising 8.65% - up 162.80 points - to end at 2,044.90.
Conversely, the heaviest declines on the Nifty included Coal India Ltd (NSE:COAL), which slipped 3.02% or 14.00 points to close at 449.00. Tech Mahindra Ltd (NSE:TEML) fell 1.35%, down 19.90 points to 1,453.50, while Nestle India Ltd (NSE:NEST) declined 0.68% or 8.30 points to finish at 1,214.50.
The BSE Sensex 30 roster showed comparable movers. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (BO:TAMO) rose 8.84% to 335.95 on the BSE. Larsen & Toubro Ltd (BO:LART) was up 7.81%, settling at 4,013.70, and Bajaj Finance Ltd (BO:BJFN) gained 7.44% to close at 918.90. On the downside, Tech Mahindra Ltd (BO:TEML) fell 1.45% to 1,452.00, Nestle India Ltd (BO:NEST) lost 0.78% to settle at 1,214.00, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (BO:SUN) was down 0.37% to 1,712.15 at the close.
Market breadth was heavily tilted to the upside. On the India National Stock Exchange, 2,352 stocks rose, 227 declined and 19 were unchanged. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, 3,606 advanced, 523 declined and 95 finished flat.
Volatility, as measured by the India VIX, fell sharply - down 20.89% to 19.53 - indicating a pullback in implied volatility for Nifty 50 options.
Commodities and currencies showed pronounced moves during the session. Gold futures for June delivery rose 2.66%, gaining $124.60 to trade at $4,809.30 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices fell significantly: the May contract dropped 16.09% or $18.17 to $94.78 a barrel, while the June Brent contract lost 13.86% or $15.15 to trade at $94.12 a barrel.
In currency markets, USD/INR moved lower by 0.37% to 92.50, while EUR/INR rose 0.22% to 107.93. The US Dollar Index Futures declined 1.05% to 98.64.
Overall, Wednesday's session saw broad-based buying that lifted benchmark indices and reduced option-implied volatility, while commodity and currency markets recorded sharp, divergent moves.