NEW DELHI: Strong gains in energy and IT counters helped Indian equity market edge higher for a second straight session on Thursday. The global market sentiment remained upbeat on account of a record rally in US stocks overnight and weak global crude oil prices.
However, signs of weakness in Dow Jones and S&P500 futures led the markets to cut some gains in the second half.
BSE benchmark Sensex closed the day 157 points or 0.44 per cent higher at 35,807 while its NSE counterpart Nifty shut shop at 10,780, up 50 points or 0.47 per cent.
Reliance Industries, Infosys and TCS contributed the most to Sensex gains.
RIL emerged as the top index performer, gaining 2.01 per cent, followed by Infosys, HUL, ONGC and Power Grid. On, the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Maruti were the worst laggards.
Future Retail was one of the biggest BSE losers, shedding 5.88 per cent lower to Rs 511.10. The family office of Future Group founder Kishore Biyani raised Rs 3,000 crore to help lower debt, but he said that the shareholding in listed retail companies will be “unaffected”.
PSU Bank stocks rallied up to 8 per cent after reports emerged that government was likely to infuse Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalisation bonds by the end of this month. Bank of Maharashtra surged the most, climbing 7.80 per cent to Rs 15.07 apiece.
In the BSE sectoral space, energy, FMCG, IT and teck were the lead gainers, edging higher over a per cent. Auto, metals and basic materials sectors were the worst hit in today's session.
Factors:
Upbeat global sentiment
World stocks bounced off a near two-year low on Thursday, lifted by a dramatic Wall Street surge, though a fall in Chinese industrial profits and renewed Italian banking worries offered a sobering reminder of the problems weighing on the world economy, Reuters reported.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent while Japan's Nikkei managed to pull out of bear market territory, to closing 3.9 per cent higher.
Oil cools-off again
The global crude oil prices resumed decline and slipped towards their 18-month lows on Thursday. Prices witnessed a fall of more than 1 per cent after rebounding 8 per cent in the previous session, as worries over a glut in crude supply and concerns over a faltering global economy pressured prices.
Brent crude oil was down 70 cents, or 1.3 per cent, at $53.77 a barrel by 0845 GMT. US light crude oil was 50 cents lower at $45.72, according to a Reuters report.
F&O Expiry
The domestic investors squared off their positions on expiry of December futures & options contract series.
Expert Take
On the expiry day market opened with a gap-up, led by positive closing in the global market. Global sentiment lifted as tension eased between white house and central bank. However, strengthening dollar and uptick in oil prices acted as key resistance, leading to minor profit booking
– Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services
On December 26, the Dow index had the largest single day upmove in terms of points in a single day. Indian markets have been relatively stable during this global year-end volatility. Oil, which was supportive since the past 12 weeks, had one of the largest single day gain on Dec 26 and will be a key to watch out for the near term
– Viral Berawala, CIO, Essel Mutual Fund
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