Benchmark indices extended gains for the second straight day on May 15

The benchmark Nifty 50 increased 1.6% to 25,062 points, the highest since October 2024, on Thursday (May 15, 2025). This is the first time that the Nifty is crossing 25,000 points since corrections and market volatility set in. The BSE Sensex increased 1.5% to 82,531 points, which too was a seven-month high.

Experts say positive returns for three days in a week is a sign that bulls may be making a comeback to the market, which was otherwise clouded by bearish sentiment.

“After displaying weakness with high volatility in the last couple of sessions, Nifty witnessed an excellent upside breakout on Thursday and closed the day with hefty gains of 395 points. After opening on a slightly positive note, the market slipped into intra-day weakness with volatility in the early-mid part of the session. A decisive upside bounce has occurred in the mid part and Nifty sustained the gains towards the end,” said Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst at HDFC Securities.

The market has also become less volatile over the week going by the four consecutive days of decline in the India VIX index in the week. The optimism was broad based on a sectoral basis as all the sectoral indices gave positive returns, with realty and auto indices increasing 1.9% in both Sensex and Nifty on Monday.

Experts had a positive outlook for the markets in the short term. “On the downside, 24,900/82,200 and 24,750/81,800 would act as key support zones, while 25,210–25,300/82,800-83,000 could serve as key resistance levels for the bulls,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research of Kotak Securities.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 22 paise to close at ₹85.54 against the U.S. dollar.

Although the rupee rallied to finish close to its session peak, it ultimately concluded with declines, largely influenced by the need for U.S. currency from petroleum purchasers and those managing financial risk.

“In the short term, the USD-INR spot exchange rate seems likely to fluctuate between a lower boundary of 84.95 and an upper barrier of 86,” said Dilip Parmar, senior research analyst, HDFC Securities.