Oil price fall, FII buying propel markets to fourth straight gain

Mumbai: Stock market benchmark indices ended higher on Monday, with the Sensex climbing 544.39 points and Nifty surging 1.60 per cent, following a sharp decline in crude oil prices amid easing geopolitical tensions.

Foreign fund inflows also added to markets’ optimism.

Extending the winning momentum to the fourth day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 544.39 points, or 0.70 per cent, to settle at 78,639.03. During the day, it surged 800.46 points, or 1 per cent, to 78,895.10.

The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 390.70 points, or 1.60 per cent, to end at 24,774.30. From the Sensex pack, InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Eternal, ITC, and Axis Bank were among the major winners. Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, and Tata Steel were among the laggards. The BSE SmallCap Select index climbed 0.87 per cent and MidCap Select index edged higher by 0.73 per cent. Among sectors, IT jumped 2.53 per cent, Focused IT (2.49 per cent), services (1.97 per cent), industrials (1.23 per cent), commodities (1.20 per cent), metal (1.14 per cent), FMCG (1.13 per cent), insurance (1.01 per cent) and PSU bank (1 per cent). Hospitals, oil & gas, and healthcare were the laggards. A total of 2,837 stocks advanced, while 1,552 declined and 206 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In four trading days, the BSE benchmark jumped 1,873.11 points, or 2.44 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 788.95 points, or 3.28 per cent. “Indian equity markets ended higher, supported by broad-based buying as easing tensions in the Middle East and a sharp decline in global crude oil prices boosted investor sentiment,” Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm, said. The rollout of the new Closing Auction Session (CAS) rules was effective from Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 277.48 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. After four straight months of selling, foreign investors turned net buyers of Indian equities in July, pumping in Rs 20,200 crore, aided by attractive valuations, improving corporate earnings and easing global headwinds.