Stock Market: Sensex rises 284 pts, Nifty above 26,100; Tata Motors PV, RIL lead gainers

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a firm note on Thursday, poised for a second straight session of gains as upbeat global cues lifted investor sentiment. 

At 9:17 am, the BSE Sensex was up 114.96 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 85,301.43 after rising nearly 284 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 gained 38.05 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 26,090.70, after briefly touching the day’s high of 26,136.

Among Sensex constituents, Tata Motors PV led gainers, rising 0.79 per cent to Rs 363.75. Reliance Industries (RIL) climbed 0.78 per cent, while Adani Ports, M&M, and Hindustan Unilever gained 0.70 per cent, 0.60 per cent, and 0.42 per cent, respectively.

Wall Street ended on a positive note overnight, with all three major US indices finishing higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.10 per cent to 46,138.77, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.38 per cent to close at 6,642.16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 0.59 per cent to 22,564.23.

Asian markets traded higher on Thursday. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.06 per cent to 50,025.10, while South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 3.03 per cent to 4,048.72. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index saw a modest gain of 0.19 per cent to 25,880.49.

On Wednesday, the Sensex rose 513.45 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 85,186.47. The Nifty50 also gained 142.60 points, or 0.55 per cent, ending the session at 26,052.65.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the market’s bullish momentum is likely to continue, supported by a series of positive triggers.

“At the fundamental level the picture of ‘strong macros but weak micros’ at the beginning of the year is changing to ‘ strong macros and improving micros’. This fundamental support is aided by the change in perception towards India by leading global banks who now consider India fairly valued and buyable in the context of a resilient economy and improving corporate earnings. The weakening AI trade is another positive for India which can be regarded as an anti-AI trade. FIIs turning buyers in the cash market yesterday is a reflection of this changing perception towards India. In the market, this is likely to manifest in preference for and outperformance of largecaps, particularly over small caps whose valuations are hard to justify even after the correction. Bank Nifty, despite the recent run up, has more room to rally since fundamentals and valuations are supportive," Vijayakumar said.