Ahead of the RBI MPC outcome on Friday, Indian equity indices closed higher on Thursday, led by gains in banking, financial and IT stocks amid softening crude oil prices and a decline in US yields.
The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex advanced 405 points or 0.62% to settle at 65,631. The broader NSE Nifty surged 110 points or 0.56% to end at 19,546.
The market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE increased by Rs 1.21 lakh crore to Rs 317.87 lakh crore. The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 2,274 stocks gained, 1,387 declined, and 124 remained unchanged on the BSE.
From the Sensex pack, L&T, M&M, Titan, TCS, and Maruti closed in the green, while Power Grid, Nestle, NTPC, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finance ended with cuts.
Among individual stocks, Sobha gained 7% after it reported record sales for the second quarter. Sobha was among the top gainers in the realty index, which is up 0.3%. Marico fell 5% after it flagged a slide in quarterly revenue due to weakness in rural recovery.
Nazara Technologies closed 5.6% higher after the company acquired a 100% stake in game marketing agency PublishME for $2 million.
The more domestic-focused Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 0.6%, while Nifty Midcap 100 closed flat.
Expert Views
“The positive signal from the PMI data and the correction in the crude price boosted the market sentiment. Reduction in FIIs selling rebound sectors like bank and IT shares today. While regarding RBI policy, positively, the market expects the interest rate to be hold-on as external demand outlook indicates muted trend fearing disinflationary trend in the future,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said, “Nifty rose on Oct 05 forming a bullish island reversal. A move below 19458 could nullify this formation. Nifty could now face resistance in the 19665 – 19734 band while 19333 could offer support once 19458 is breached.”
Global Markets
Asian and European markets posted modest gains on Thursday, rebounding from previous losses after a strong lead from Wall Street.
Positive sentiment continued in Asia, with Tokyo up by 1.7% at the close. Hong Kong ended only marginally up. Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were also up. Markets in mainland China were closed for a week-long holiday.
Oil Impact
On Thursday, Brent crude oil futures fell by $1.34 to $84.47 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude declined $1.45 to $82.79.
Oil settled down more than $5 on Wednesday as a bleaker macroeconomic outlook and fuel demand destruction came into focus following a meeting of an OPEC+ panel, grouping the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee closed little changed on Thursday as both weakness and subsequent recovery in the dollar index failed to budge the local unit out of the narrow trading range it has been stuck in this week.
The rupee closed at 83.25 against the US dollar compared with its previous close of 83.24.
(With inputs from agencies)
