Stock Market Today: Bulls in control as Sensex gains 400 pts, Nifty holds above 24,300

Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Thursday, tracking gains in global markets amid rising hopes of a possible truce between the US and Iran.

The BSE Sensex opened at 78,677.56 and was trading at 78,512.79, up 401.55 points or 0.51 per cent at 9:15 am. The index had closed at 78,111.24 in the previous session.

The Nifty 50 opened at 24,385.20 and was trading at 24,351.10, higher by 119.80 points or 0.49 per cent. It had settled at 24,231.30 earlier.

Add Zee Business as a Preferred Source

Gainers and market breadth

Eternal, Infosys, Hindalco Industries, and Bajaj Finance were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index. The advance was broad-based, with most sectors trading in the green.

Volatility declines

The India VIX fell 9.5 per cent to 16.83, indicating a cooling in near-term volatility.

Broader markets outperform

The Nifty MidCap index rose 0.97 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap index gained 1.13 per cent, outperforming the benchmark indices.

Sectoral trends

Nifty Realty, Nifty Media, and Nifty Metal indices led the gains. Nifty Oil and Gas lagged, while Nifty Pharma was marginally lower. Nifty IT and Nifty Media indices rose over 1 per cent each.

Global cues

US markets extended gains, with the S&P 500 rising about 3 per cent this week and hovering near record highs. The Nasdaq gained around 5 per cent, marking its longest winning streak since 2019, while the Dow Jones also advanced.

Asian markets opened higher, with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.9 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising 1.1 per cent.

Commodities and currency

Brent crude traded at $95.15 per barrel, up 0.23 per cent, but remained below recent highs. The Indian rupee ended flat at 93.37 against the US dollar in the previous session.

Institutional flows

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 666 crore in the cash market and Rs 1,815 crore across segments. Domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 569 crore.

Earnings watch

Alok Industries, Angel One, Amar Chand Jagdish Kumar (Exports), CRISIL, HDFC Asset Management Company, HDFC Life Insurance Company, Waaree Renewable Technologies, VST Industries, and Wipro are scheduled to announce their quarterly results on Thursday.