Indian equity benchmarks began the week with a strong rally on Monday. Cheaper crude oil and solid quarterly results from heavyweights such as Reliance Industries lifted sentiment on Dalal Street.
The Sensex climbed 1,233 points to end at 75,693. The Nifty 50 rose 388 points to finish close to 23,441. Both indices gained nearly 2%. The surge added more than Rs 8 lakh crore to the combined market value of BSE-listed companies, taking it above Rs 482 lakh crore.
Why the market rose
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said the week opened on a firm note, helped by second-quarter earnings that beat estimates and better domestic signals. He pointed to October passenger-vehicle sales, which showed healthy festive demand, and to higher gross GST collections, both of which suggest consumption and economic activity are holding up.
Global factors also helped, according to Nair. Softer crude prices and fresh US-Iran diplomatic efforts eased worries about energy costs and geopolitical risk. Foreign investors returned as buyers amid a global rotation towards AI-linked bets. Nair also noted that mid-cap and small-cap indices advanced as well, which he read as a sign of wider market participation.
Global cues
On Wall Street, the main indexes rose as oil prices tumbled more than 6% on hopes of a US-Iran peace deal. Investors are also preparing for Tuesday’s midterm elections and another heavy week of corporate earnings.
Brent crude dropped to a near two-week low. Iran’s talks with Qatari officials, aimed at ending an eight-month conflict with the US, raised hopes that disruptions to Middle East supply could ease.
European shares ended slightly lower after Friday’s tech sell-off. The STOXX 600 slipped 0.10%, although technology stocks gained 0.30%. Investors are looking ahead to Apple’s earnings and drew comfort from the sharp drop in oil on hopes of a deal to end the Iran war.
Most active stocks
By value traded on the NSE, Reliance Industries led with Rs 11,004 crore. Dixon Tech followed at Rs 1,980 crore, then Infosys at Rs 1,508 crore, HDFC Bank at Rs 1,491 crore, Welspun India at Rs 1,388 crore, Bharti Airtel at Rs 1,360 crore and ICICI Bank at Rs 1,253 crore. High turnover in value terms helps point to the counters seeing the heaviest trading.
By volume, Vodafone Idea topped the chart with 32.64 crore shares changing hands. Vedanta Power traded 18.45 crore shares, Motherson Sumi Wiring India 17.86 crore, Suzlon Energy 11.89 crore, Ola Electric Mobility 10.12 crore, Yes Bank 9.89 crore and JP Power 9.65 crore.
Stocks in focus
ITI, Engineers India, Affle (India), Dixon Tech, Kirloskar Bros., Reliance Industries and Welspun India drew strong buying interest.
Coforge, Sona BLW Precision, Divi’s Labs, IHCL, Nykaa, PVR Inox and Anand Rathi Wealth touched 52-week highs on the NSE.
Heavy selling hit Gallantt Metal, Clean Science, Zee Entertainment, Syrma SGS Technology, PB Fintech, Concord Biotech and Escorts Kubota.
Zee Entertainment, PB Fintech, Escorts Kubota, IGL, Sarda Energy, Max Financial and Colgate Palmolive hit 52-week lows.
Market breadth
Breadth clearly favoured the bulls. Of the 3,713 stocks traded on the NSE on Monday, 2,445 advanced and 1,164 declined, while 104 closed unchanged.
For Tuesday, traders will watch whether crude oil stays soft on peace-deal hopes, how US markets react to the midterm elections, and whether foreign investors keep buying. More corporate earnings are also due.
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