The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday pared loses and opened in the green, tracking recovery in global markets as crude oil prices cooled off to $86 per barrel. At 10 am, the BSE Sensex jumped 355 points to 65,581. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,532, up 96 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, TCS, Titan, TechM, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Motors, ITC were among the lead gainers. On the downside, PowerGrid, Nestle, NTPC, Tata Steel, HUL, Sun Pharma emerged losers. Among specific stocks, Marico fell 3 per cent as its Q2 domestic volumes grew in low-single digits on a YoY basis. Rising food prices and below-normal rainfall impeded expected recovery in rural demand during the quarter, the company said.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose up to 0.9 per cent.
Sectorally all indices were trading in the green, led by Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank that gained 1 per cent each.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 65,226, down 286 points, while the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 19,436, falling 93 points.
"The triple whammy of spiking dollar, US bond yields and crude is slowly easing, paving the way for a recovery in markets. The decline in the dollar and US bond yields are mild and, therefore, not adequate for a reversal of FII selling, which continues to be very high. But the sharp correction in Brent crude to USD 86 is a big positive," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading in the green. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.71 per cent to $86.42 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,424.02 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, The rupee appreciated by 8 paise to 83.16 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday on easing global crude oil prices and a positive trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said rupee is trading in a narrow range as sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.21 against the dollar and then touched an early high of 83.16, registering a gain of 8 paise over its previous close. In the initial trade, the domestic unit also touched a low of 83.21 against the American currency. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 83.24 against the American dollar.