Indian equities saw a rise in the morning session on Thursday, driven by lower crude oil prices, strong auto sales figures, and positive expectations for first-quarter earnings. The Sensex surged by 0.38%, reaching an intraday high of 77,218.78, while the Nifty climbed by 0.35% to 24,092.05. Notably, the Nifty IT index led the gains, rising over 3%, followed by sectors like Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom, Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty.
IT emerged as the top gainer sector-wise, with Nifty IT index surging over 3%, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Media experienced slight declines. Among the top Nifty losers were NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, and Bharti Airtel, with losses up to 1%. Market experts highlighted various factors supporting the market currently, including the positive impact of lower crude oil prices on India’s macroeconomic fundamentals and the resilience of domestic demand shown through robust June auto sales.
Experts also mentioned the expected strength in banking stocks and digital platform companies due to anticipated healthy first-quarter earnings. However, they emphasized that the market’s sustained performance hinges significantly on the progress of the monsoon, which has been below expectations. International oil prices, with Brent crude declining over 1% to $70.65 per barrel and US WTI crude slipping 1.47% to below $68, also influenced market sentiments.
In the global market scenario, Asian markets displayed mixed trends, with Japan’s Nikkei trading over 1% lower and South Korea’s KOSPI falling more than 4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged by 1%. On the other hand, Wall Street in the US closed lower, with the S&P 500 declining by 0.22% and the Nasdaq settling 0.66% lower.
