Indian shares up on value buying in HDFC Bank, Reliance

India’s equity benchmarks snapped a two-session losing streak on Monday on value buying in specific stocks, including heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.83% to 25,682.75, while the BSE Sensex added 0.79% to 83,277.15. They had fallen about 2% in last two sessions, led by IT losses.

India’s heaviest-weighted stock HDFC Bank rose 2.4%, snapping seven-session losing streak, where it lost 5.1%.

Another index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 1.2% after falling 3.3% in the last two sessions.

“There is some value buying as well as churn from IT towards other sectors,” said Anita Gandhi, head of institutional business at Arihant Capital Markets.

“With earnings season behind and U.S. trade deal largely factored in by markets, we expect benchmarks to consolidate in the near-term with positive bias.”

Fifteen of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps added 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

IT stocks posted marginal gains, rising 0.2% after last week’s sell-off on anxiety around AI automation tools and their impact on traditional software businesses.

IT index lost 8.2% last week, its worst showing in 10 months.

The lingering concerns over tech stocks also weighed on Fractal Analytics’ public market debut on Monday, with shares of the country’s first pure-play AI firm falling 5.9%.

The pharma index rose 0.9%, led by Torrent Pharma which gained 4.5% on an uptick in December-quarter profit.

Among other stocks, stock exchange operator BSE dropped 7.3%, while brokers such as Groww and Angel One lost 1.7% and 4.7%, respectively, after the central bank tightened capital market lending norms.

Firstcry tumbled 11.3% after its quarterly losses widened due to quick-commerce-led discounting, supply disruptions and lower margins.

Natco Pharma climbed 7% after it received approval to launch in India the generic version of diabetes and weight-loss drug semaglutide.