MUMBAI: The Indian stock market rallied on Thursday, buoyed by expectations of policy rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the formation of a BJP-led government in Maharashtra and strong foreign institutional investor (FII) buying, closing firmly in positive territory.
At the close of trading, the Nifty 50 at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended at 24,708.40, gaining 240.95 points, or 0.98 percent. Similarly, the BSE Sensex closed at 81,765.86, up 809.53 points, after reaching an intraday high of 82,317.74.
The markets witnessed robust buying across heavyweight stocks in various sectors, particularly in IT, where shares of TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra saw significant gains. Most sectoral indices traded in the green, except PSU Banks and Realty. Titan, Trent, Dr. Reddy’s, and Bharti Airtel emerged as top gainers, while stocks like SBI Life, HDFC Life, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, and Grasim were the major losers of the day.
In intraday trading, the IT sector surged nearly 2 per cent, leading the rally. Nifty IT set a new record, crossing the 45,000 mark and hitting a daily high of 45,027.95.
“The banking and financial services sector remains in focus amid expectations of a potential rate cut by the RBI in upcoming MPC meetings. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks on the resilience of the US economy are also likely to have an indirect impact on India’s economic prospects”, said V L A Ambala, co-founder of Stock Market Today.
She further noted that strong FII inflows, combined with optimism ahead of the RBI’s monetary policy decision on Friday, boosted market sentiment.
“After a long time, FIIs are showing renewed interest in Indian markets. The year-end sentiment appears bullish, despite some economic indicators signalling a slowdown. There is hope that the RBI will announce rate cuts to support growth, alongside increased government spending”, said Shriram Subramanian, founder and MD of InGovern Research Services.
“FII buying is particularly favourable for large-cap stocks. The strength in banking stocks could propel the Bank Nifty to all-time highs, providing further impetus for Nifty to climb higher”, remarked V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign investors remained net buyers throughout the week, purchasing equities worth Rs 1,797 crore on Wednesday alone. (ANI)