Indian benchmarks opened in positive territory on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex opening at 72,965.80 and trading at 73,063.47, up 281.58 points or 0.39 per cent, as of 9.21 am. The NSE Nifty 50 opened at 22,671.30 against a previous close of 22,622.70 and was at 22,695.40, up 72.70 points or 0.32 per cent. This positive opening followed Wednesday's session where the Nifty closed at 22,622.70, down 99 points, and the Sensex fell 252 points. The muted opening was attributed to persistent foreign institutional selling and elevated crude oil prices that tempered momentum from the previous session's sharp recovery.
IT stocks continued their strong performance with technology stocks dominating the gainers list ahead of quarterly results. Tech Mahindra rose 2.14 per cent to ₹1,608.90, TCS climbed 1.96 per cent to ₹2,350.10, and Infosys gained 1.82 per cent to ₹1,107.80. Tata Consumer Products rose 1.63 per cent to ₹1,004.00, while ICICI Bank gained 1.31 per cent to ₹1,356.20, lending support to the private banking sector. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, noted that "the strength in IT stocks following the results of HCLT and the optimism surrounding that will hold the IT index strong." Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, HUL and BEL gained around 1% each, while Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Adani Ports, Eternal, M&M, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Titan and SBI fell around 1% each. Overall market breadth remained positive, with 2,041 stocks advancing, 1,089 declining and 85 remaining unchanged on the NSE.
Sectoral performance remained mixed with technology stocks leading gains, while Adani group stocks and metals faced pressure. Adani Ports fell 1.33 per cent to ₹1,725.50 and Adani Enterprises dropped 1.21 per cent to ₹2,689.60. Hindalco slid 1.20 per cent to ₹871.95 as the metals sector faced selling pressure. Bharat Electronics (BEL) shed 1.02 per cent to ₹378.45, and ONGC fell 1.00 per cent to ₹223.25, dragging the energy counter lower. Wednesday's session had ended with the energy index rising nearly 1.5 per cent, while pharma and healthcare declined over 1 per cent. Financial and pharmaceutical stocks faced selling pressure, with Shriram Finance the top Nifty loser, down 2.41% at ₹964.20, followed by Bajaj Finance, which fell 1.40% to ₹969.00, and HDFC Life, which declined 1.02% to ₹554.30.
Global markets remained under pressure from hotter-than-expected US inflation data, with US consumer prices rising 3.7 per cent year-on-year in September, above the 3.6 per cent consensus estimate. The Nasdaq fell 1.88 per cent to 26,692.87, its steepest single day drop since July 23. Asian markets extended the selloff, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 4.56 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI plunging 7.32 per cent, triggering temporary emergency trading curbs in Seoul. Dr. V K Vijayakumar noted that "FIIs who have been selling Indian stocks and buying AI stocks will halt this trend and under favourable conditions might even reverse it." He emphasized that "the expected good Q2 results from financials can impart resilience to the market." RBI measures to restrict speculation in the currency market led to a 1.5% appreciation in the rupee over the last two trading days, which has helped reduce FII selling significantly.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth approximately ₹1,857 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors provided support with net purchases of around ₹2,670 crore. Wednesday's session had seen FII selling continue with net outflows of approximately ₹1,305 crore, though the pace moderated. The Indian rupee appreciated 13 paise to close at 95.15 in the previous session. Brent crude hovered near $105 a barrel following Houthi strikes on Saudi Aramco and disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan noted that "for India, persistently high oil prices add to inflationary pressures," with wholesale inflation climbing to 11.39 per cent potentially "complicating the outlook for domestic inflation and financial conditions."
