Mumbai, Dec 27 (IANS) A global market rebound, along with healthy inflows of foreign funds and derivative expiry of December series, lifted the key Indian equity indices on Thursday with the barometer Sensex gaining more than 0.40 per cent.
However, a weak rupee and an uptick in oil prices as well as a minor bout of profit booking capped the gains.
The BSE Sensex settled 157.34 points or 0.44 per cent higher at 35,807.28 points after touching an intra-day high of 36,041.24 and a low of 35,781.95.
The NSE Nifty50 gained 49.95 points or 0.47 per cent to finish at 10,779.80.
In the past few days, investor sentiments were low on concerns that US President Donald Trump could fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. However, Trump’s key economic adviser Kevin Hassett’s reassurances on Wednesday has put the issue to rest.
The US President was speculated to sack the Powell, after the US central bank hiked its short-term interest rate.
“Overseas, most shares in Europe and Asia traded on a strong clip today (Thursday) after US stocks saw their best performance in almost a decade on Wednesday. In the US, the Dow logged a 1,000-point gain as equities roared back from oversold conditions,” said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
“Shoppers delivered the strongest holiday sales increase for US retailers in six years, according to Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks online and in-store spending with all forms of payment.”
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services: “On the expiry day, market opened with a gap-up, led by positive closing in the global market.”
“Global sentiment lifted as tension eased between White House and central bank. However, strengthening dollar and uptick in oil prices acted as key resistance, leading to minor profit booking.”
On Thursday, the Brent Crude index remained highly volatile as it registered a steep rise to $53.50 per barrel after it fell below the $50 per barrel mark on Wednesday.
In terms of currency, the Indian rupee lost some ground against the US dollar at 70.35 from its previous close of 70.07.
“Technically, with the Nifty surging higher, the short-term trend for the Nifty remains positive. Further upsides are likely once the immediate resistances of 10,849 are taken out,” said Deepak Jasani, HDFC Securities’ Retail Research Head.
“Crucial supports to watch for any weakness are at 10,711.”
Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,731.91 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 663-crore stocks.
Top gainers on the Sensex were led by Reliance Industries, which ended 2.10 per cent higher, while IT major Infosys and energy stocks — NTPC and ONGC — gained in the range of 1 to 2 per cent.
Also, FMCG major Hindustan Uniliver edged up 1 per cent.
In contrast, only Tata Motors (DVR) lost over 2 per cent, while other top losers Hero Moto Corp, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Tata Steel declined in the range of 1 to 2 per cent.
–IANS
ravi-rv/nir