Stock Market: Sensex up 471 pts, Nifty above 25,800; Eternal, Bajaj Finserv lead gainers

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended their winning streak on Wednesday, opening higher amid positive cues from global markets and optimism over progress in trade negotiations with the US.

At 9:17 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 405.44 points, or 0.48 per cent, higher at 84,276.76, after rising as much as 471 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 rose 125.70 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 25,820.65, after touching a day’s high of 25,837.30.

Among Sensex constituents, Eternal led the gainers, advancing 1.36 per cent to Rs 309.90. Bajaj Finserv added 1.30 per cent, while TCS, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries gained 1.08 per cent, 1.03 per cent and 0.98 per cent, respectively.

Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with two of the three major US indices finishing in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.18 per cent to 47,927.96, while the S&P 500 added 0.21 per cent to 6,846.61. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.25 per cent to close at 23,468.30.

Asian markets traded higher on Wednesday. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.17 per cent to 50,927.29, while South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.74 per cent to 4,136.67. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.56 per cent to 26,844.63.

On Tuesday, the Sensex advanced 335.97 points, or 0.40 per cent, to settle at 83,871.32, while the Nifty50 gained 120.60 points, or 0.47 per cent, to end at 25,694.95.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said market sentiment has improved on the back of optimism around an impending India-US trade agreement and exit polls suggesting a clear win for the NDA in Bihar.

“This will strengthen the bulls but is not good enough for the markets to stage a decisive breakout and sustained rally. Going by the present trends, FIIs are likely to sell again at higher levels. So long as the AI trade continues a sustained reversal of FII money appears unlikely,” Vijayakumar said.

“From the fundamental perspective, there is room for optimism since GDP growth is robust and earnings growth for FY27 appears bright. Financials, consumption and defence stocks have the potential to lead the next leg of the rally,” Vijayakumar added.