Stock market today: The Indian stock market maintained its momentum for the second straight month in April, positioning itself as the best-performing equity market in Asia. Despite rising tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, investor sentiment was not damaged, as they continued to add stocks to their portfolios.
The Nifty 50 ended the month with a gain of 3.46%, building on a 6.30% rise in March, while the Sensex closed with a return of 3.2%, following a 6% jump the previous month. Impressively, both indices have surged nearly 12% from their April 7 lows.
Broader markets delivered an even stronger performance, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rising 15.24% and 17%, respectively, from their April 7 lows. Both indices also ended the month with gains of up to 4.7%.
Looking at the sectoral performance, Nifty Bank emerged as the top performer with a gain of 6.83%, followed by Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Consumer Durables, and Nifty Realty, which gained between 4% and 6%.
What supported the Indian stock market in April?
Investor sentiment turned favourable towards more domestically focused stocks such as banking and FMCG amid ongoing global trade tensions. Improving liquidity conditions, multiple rate cuts by the RBI, and the momentum in trade talks with the U.S. helped bulls maintain their dominance in the Indian stock market.
Additionally, reasonable valuations attracted value buyers, resulting in strong gains in beaten-down counters. The 90-day pause in the 26% reciprocal tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month significantly boosted export-oriented sectors such as chemicals, textiles, technology, and auto ancillaries.
Meanwhile, India and the United States are actively progressing toward a bilateral trade agreement. On Tuesday (April 29), President Trump expressed optimism about the ongoing trade negotiations, suggesting that the two countries are close to reaching a deal on tariffs.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump emphasised the progress made and his expectation for a positive outcome. The United States remains India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding $118 billion in 2023–24. India has expressed its intent to double this figure to $500 billion by 2030.
Although global brokerage firms have trimmed their growth forecasts for the Indian economy for the current calendar year—citing potential impacts from trade tensions—they continue to remain bullish on Asia’s third-largest economy.
Their optimism stems from strong domestic demand, favourable demographics, and structural reforms that are expected to drive sustained growth.
Overseas investors’ confidence returns to Indian stock market
Having largely been sellers in the months since Indian benchmarks scaled records in September, foreigners are coming back amid growing optimism that a domestically driven economy will make the South Asian nation withstand the global trade war better than most peers.
They remined net buyers over the last 10 trading sessions, (April 15–30), pumping a cumulative ₹37,400 crore into Indian equities.
After buying ₹32,576 crore worth of Indian stocks between March 20 and March 27, FPIs turned net sellers in the first half of April. In February, FPIs pulled out ₹34,574 crore, while January saw an even higher outflow of ₹78,027 crore, according to the NSDL data.
Between October 2024 and February 2025, FPIs withdrew more than ₹3 lakh crore from the Indian stock market, largely due to concerns over stretched valuations and weak corporate earnings.
As of end-March 2025, foreign institutional investor (FII) equity assets under custody (AUC) stood at ₹66.8 trillion, marking a 7% increase from ₹62.4 trillion in February 2025, according to analysts.
Will the rally in the Indian stock market to continue in May?
According to domestic brokerage firm JM Financial, analysis indicates that the Nifty 50 has exhibited average price seasonality in the month of May. Over the last 10 years, the index has closed in the green on six occasions, with an average return of 1.5% and a median return of 2%.
The brokerage also noted that the Nifty Midcap index has shown similar seasonal behavior in May, closing in the green in six out of the past ten years, with an average return of 0.4% and a median return of 1.2%.
Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the Nifty Midcap index has outperformed the Nifty 50 on six occasions during this period, with an average underperformance of 1.1% and a median outperformance of 0.4%.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.