Sensex surges 905 pts, Nifty tops 22,900

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rallied more than 1 per cent on Thursday, led by heavy buying in banking, FMCG, and IT shares, amid easing crude oil prices and a pause in US Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 905.01 points, or 1.24 per cent, to close at a more-than-a-week-high of 74,151.04. As many as 26 Sensex shares advanced and four closed lower.

The 50-share NSE Nifty settled 237.90 points, or 1.05 per cent, higher at 22,936.75.

Among the Sensex constituents, Adani Ports emerged as the biggest gainer by rising over 5 per cent after the company reported an 18 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,682.44 crore for the September quarter, driven by higher revenue.

Kotak Mahindra Bank rose by 3.86 per cent, Power Grid 3.70 per cent, Eternal, 3.46 per cent, Bajaj Finance 2.56 per cent, State Bank of India 2.43 per cent, and Hindustan Unilever by 2.43 per cent. Titan, NTPC, Bharat Electronics Ltd and Infosys also closed in positive territory. Trent, Maruti Suzuki India, Tech Mahindra and HDFC Bank were among the laggards. “Indian equities rallied as the US Fed’s rate pause, marginal easing in crude and renewed institutional buying improved risk appetite despite a challenging external backdrop.

“FMCG led gains on resilient consumer demand, while financials, IT, realty and power strengthened, with mid- and small-caps also participating, signalling healthier market breadth,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd.

He said the broader thesis remains supported by selective earnings resilience and domestic demand stability, although elevated input costs could test margin durability. However, elevated Brent, rupee weakness, rising domestic bond yields and prevailing geopolitical uncertainty remain key risks.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.18 per cent to USD 113.96 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Jio Platforms shares trimmed early gains to close at Rs 1,423.05, up by 0.4 per cent. During the day, the Reliance Industries-backed digital services company’s stock climbed as much as 5.12 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 1,490 per share.

Among BSE sectoral indices, Utilities climbed the most by 3.11 per cent, followed by PSU Bank (2.63 per cent), Realty (2.44 per cent), FMCG (1.94 per cent), Services (1.77 per cent), Power (1.63 per cent), Consumer Durables (1.55 per cent), and Telecommunication (1.30 per cent).

Auto was the only laggard among the sectoral indices.

“Buying interest in large-cap stocks also helped lift broader market sentiment. Positive reaction to the Fed’s policy meeting outcome was seen in the rate-sensitive sectors as strength in FMCG, BFSI and Realty names contributed meaningfully to the day’s gains,” said Sunny Agrawal, Head of Fundamental Research at SBI Securities.

Market participants largely looked past elevated crude oil prices, which continue to hover above USD 110 per barrel and remain a key macro risk for import-dependent economies such as India, he said.

Looking ahead, investors will track US GDP and labour market data, followed by Eurozone GDP and unemployment data and the Bank of Japan’s policy decision on Friday, said Siddhartha Khemka of Head of Research - Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended lower, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark settled in the green.

European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals on Thursday. US equity markets ended higher in overnight deals on Wednesday.

“Near-term momentum will hinge on domestic earnings breadth, continuity of foreign flows and moderation in energy prices while the global inflation trends and policy signals from other major central banks could keep yields and capital flows volatile,” Nair added.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 871.83 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were also net buyers of shares worth Rs 643.35 crore, according to the exchange data.

On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 352.64 points to settle at 73,246.03, while the NSE Nifty50 dropped 50.90 points to close at 22,698.85.