The Indian equity benchmarks were trading higher on Wednesday, August 26, as investor sentiment got a boost from a drop in crude prices in international markets.
The SENSEX rose as much as 294 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,357 led by gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Ultratech Cement.
As of 9:27 am, the SENSEX was up 287 points at 77,943 and NIFTY50 index advanced 22 points to 24,356.
Asian markets were trading sharply higher on Wednesday tracking a drop in crude prices after Iran said that it has reopened talks with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan’s Nikkei surged 0.52%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.5%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.9% and South Korea’s KOSPI index surged 1.03%.
Brent Crude futures declined as much as 2.42% to hit an intraday low of $85.16 after Iran said it had restarted talks with Oman to manage the Strait as it faces heightened economic pressure from US President Donald Trump, news agency Reuters reported.
Iran and Oman have been in on-and-off talks for weeks about controlling traffic through the waterway, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February, the report added.
Back home, 10 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY PSU Bank index’s 1.6% gain, NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and Realty indices also rose between 0.6% and 0.8%.
On the other hand, metal, IT, FMCG and consumer durable shares were facing selling pressure.
Broader markets were also witnessing buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index gained 0.24% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.5%.
Bank of Maharashtra, Sagility and Ather Energy shares rose up to 6% as they started trading in the futures and options segment from today.
Varun Beverages dropped as much as 2.91% to hit an intraday low of ₹425 after the company said that it will foray into the alcoholic beverages segment as per its diversification strategy.
The company will set up a new subsidiary, “KIVA Spirits and Company”, to enter the ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages business and has appointed former Diageo executive Prathmesh Mishra as its chief executive officer and managing director.
Kotak Mahindra Bank was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 1.66% to ₹408. HDFC Life, ICICI Bank, SBI Life, State Bank of India, Adani Enterprises, Asian Paints, Ultratech Cement, NTPC, IndiGo and Adani Ports also rose between 0.8% and 1.4%.
On the flip side, Apollo Hospitals, Shriram Finance, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Electronics, ONGC, Cipla, Tata Consumer Products, Larsen & Toubro, Eternal and Max Healthcare were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.
The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2,069 shares were advancing while 879 were declining on the NSE.