Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Oct.6: Indian equity indices rose somewhat on Wednesday, overcoming poor signals from other Asian markets. The 30-share Sensex gained 197 points, and the Nifty 50 index soared above 17,850, a key psychological level. After an overnight bounce in US and European stocks, Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, reversing early gains, as investors shrugged off concerns about a potential US government debt default, while oil halted near multi-year highs. Concerns over energy supplies are driving the rise in oil prices, which comes two days after the OPEC+ group of producers decided to stick to its scheduled output increase rather than increase it further.
The Sensex was up 142 points at 59,887 at 9:19 a.m., and the Nifty 50 index was up 47 points at 17,869.
On Wednesday, US crude soared to its highest level since 2014, but then fell back to $78.87 a barrel, down 0.09 percent. Brent crude fell 0.08 percent to $82.49 a barrel after hitting a three-year high the day before.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sank 0.6%, reversing early gains, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.78 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.92 percent overnight, the S&P 500 gained 1.05 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.25 percent.
Back home, purchasing was evident across the board, with all 15 of the National Stock Exchange’s sector indices trading higher, topped by the Nifty Oil & Gas index’s over 1% increase.
The Nifty PSU Bank, Realty, FMCG, Auto, Financial Services, and Media indices all climbed between 0.4 and 1%.
The Nifty Midcap 100 index increased 0.31 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.7 percent, indicating that buyers were interested in mid- and small-cap stocks.
For the second day in a row, ONGC was the top Nifty gainer. On the basis of higher crude oil prices in foreign markets, the stock gained almost 4% to a new 52-week high of 172.75. Brent Crude hit a multi-year high of $83 per barrel on Friday.
Titan, Divi’s Laboratories, SBI Life, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Hindustan Unilever, on the other hand, were among the losers.
On the BSE, 1,980 equities advanced while 684 declined, indicating an exceedingly favourable environment.
