Oil below $100 gives D-Street breathing room

Mumbai: Market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended sharply higher on Tuesday, extending their rally for the second straight session, as a decline in crude oil prices below USD 100 per barrel and buying in bank stocks and Reliance Industries added to investors' optimism.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 685.34 points, or 0.95 per cent, to settle at 73,067.81. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 220.35 points, or 0.98 per cent, to end at 22,776.10. From the 30 Sensex firms, Trent surged the most by 12.78 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, InterGlobe Aviation, Eternal and Asian Paints were also among the winners. Tech Mahindra, Titan, Bajaj Finance and ITC were among the laggards.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, tanked 1.70 per cent to USD 98.59 per barrel. "Indian equities extended their rebound for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, with benchmark indices closing higher as further decline in crude oil prices eased some of the macroeconomic pressure weighing on sentiment," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

"Crude oil prices slipped below the USD 100 mark after a large G7 stockpile release and alternative supplies through pipelines helped offset disruptions to vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz. "Coupled with strong Q2 business updates from financials and retail along with supportive global cues, the decline in oil prices improved investors' sentiment and supported a rebound from the oversold levels," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

The BSE SmallCap Select index jumped 1.25 per cent and the MidCap Select index 1 per cent. Among the BSE sectoral indices, Telecommunication surged 2.33 per cent, Capital Goods 1.79 per cent, Industrials 1.62 per cent, FMCG 1.57 per cent, Power 1.21 per cent, Oil & Gas 1.21 per cent and Insurance 1.06 per cent.

Realty, IT, PSU Bank, Hospitals, Focused IT, MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt and MidSmall Private Banks ended lower. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hang Seng index ended in positive territory, while South Korea's Kospi settled lower.

Markets in Europe were trading higher. US markets ended higher on Monday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,699.14 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. On Monday, the Sensex jumped 472.77 points, or 0.66 per cent, to settle at 72,382.47. The Nifty climbed 133.80 points, or 0.60 per cent, to end at 22,555.75.

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