Dalal Street opened green on Thursday, continuing its strong rally for the sixth consecutive day. Lower crude oil prices, a blue victory in the US midterm elections and global market rallies boosted investor sentiment.
The Nifty 50, which closed at its highest level in 40 sessions, gained 1.74 per cent to reach 24378.05. The BSE Sensex rose over 2 per cent to hit 79,001.19.
Brent crude oil prices reached their lowest level since August 30, hovering around $93 a barrel. The drop came as a Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections fueled expectations that Trump could face pressure to bring the West Asia war to an end.
Wall Street rallied overnight, adding $1.2 trillion in market cap, as investors expect fewer policy changes and more political certainty. Dropping oil prices and slipping Treasury yields also fueled the market.
Asian markets traded mixed. Japan’s tech-heavy Nikkei 225 index rallied 0.51 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.11 per cent. China’s Hang Seng index opened higher.
Foreign investors bought shares worth $769.65 million, marking continued interest on the fourth day.
Fourteen of the sixteen sectors traded positively, with Indigo, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Maruti and Mahindra being the top gainers in the Sensex index.
Crude-sensitive sectors such as Indigo, Asian Paints and several tyre manufacturers rallied up to 4 per cent. Indigo’s profitability is expected to benefit from lower Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as it is the airline’s highest operating expense.
Shares of oil marketing companies, including Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), traded higher as they stand to benefit from lower crude prices.
Upstream producers like ONGC and Oil India traded lower as falling crude prices can directly compress their profit margins.
Paint manufacturers, such as Kansai Nerolac Paints, Asian Paints, and Berger Paints, which use crude oil derivatives and petrochemicals as primary raw materials, traded green as this could ease input costs.
Private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank led gains in the Nifty 50 benchmark, while Apollo Hospitals and Bharti Airtel lagged behind.
