India News | Benchmarks Build on Gains as RIL, IT Stocks Sparkle

Mumbai, Oct 5 (PTI) The Sensex and Nifty defied gravity for the second straight session on Tuesday as energy, IT and banking counters witnessed brisk buying amid mixed global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened weak but gained momentum in afternoon trade to finish at 59,744.88, up 445.56 points or 0.75 per cent.

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On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty surged 131.05 points or 0.74 per cent to close at 17,822.30.

IndusInd Bank topped the Sensex gainers chart with a jump of 4.60 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, Titan, Asian Paints and TCS.

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Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and the IT pack accounted for most of the benchmark's gains.

In contrast, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, ITC, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel and Nestle India were among the laggards, slipping up to 1.36 per cent.

The market breadth was in favour of the bulls, with 20 of the 30 index components closing in the green.

"Indian markets on Tuesday ended in positive zone led by energy, IT, oil & gas and power indices. The rising crude oil and gas prices have been positive for the upstream oil & gas companies. Reliance Industries, ONGC and Oil India will benefit most from ongoing higher energy prices," said Arijit Malakar, Head - Research (Retail), Ashika Stock Broking Ltd.

Anticipation of strong Q2 FY22 earnings from Indian IT sectors also uplifted market sentiment, he added.

Domestic equities opened on a weak note as investors turned cautious due to a weak closing of the US market, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"However, upbeat mood of the European markets which rebounded after the US tech based sell-off helped the Indian market to regain momentum," Nair noted.

On the macroeconomic front, India's services sector activity continued to expand in September, supported by favourable underlying demand amid the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, but lost some momentum from August's 18-month high level, a monthly survey showed.

The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index fell from 56.7 in August to 55.2 in September, but remained well above its long-run average.

Sectorally, BSE oil and gas, energy, telecom, power, teck and IT indices surged as much as 3.23 per cent, while realty, healthcare, metal and FMCG ended in the red.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices climbed up to 0.54 per cent.

Asian markets were subdued as high energy prices and the liquidity crisis at China Evergrande Group weighed on sentiment. Bourses in Seoul and Tokyo ended with losses, while Hong Kong was positive. Shanghai was closed for holidays.

However, stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in the afternoon session, propped up by tech stocks.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.47 per cent to USD 81.64 per barrel.

The rupee fell 13 paise to close at 74.44 against the US dollar on Tuesday, weighed by the strengthening of the greenback in the overseas market and rising crude oil prices.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 860.50 crore, as per exchange data.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)