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Sensex 75,439.94 +1.32%Nifty 50 23,329.45 +1.20%₹ / $ 94.89

EconomyMarkets

Sensex jumps 970 points, Nifty tops 23,300 as oil eases and Reliance soars

Indian shares opened with a gap-up on Monday and kept climbing in the first hour, as Brent crude fell below $111 on Iran-Qatar talks and Reliance Industries rallied more than 6% after its September-quarter results.

From the editorial desk · MumbaiPublished
Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, the BSE building on Dalal Street, Mumbai (file photo)
Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, the BSE building on Dalal Street, Mumbai (file photo)Photo: Rakesh from Bangalore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Key points

  1. The Sensex was up 970 points at 75,429.53 at 10 am, with the Nifty at 23,313.20.
  2. Reliance Industries rose as much as 6.22% to lead the gainers.
  3. Investors became ₹3.6 lakh crore richer in the first 40 minutes.

Indian shares opened sharply higher on Monday and added to their gains through the first hour, as a fall in oil prices and strong results from Reliance Industries outweighed Friday’s rout in American technology stocks.

By 10 am the Sensex was up 970 points, or 1.30%, at 75,429.53, and the Nifty 50 had gained 260.10 points, or 1.13%, to 23,313.20. The Nifty had ended the pre-open session at 23,222, up 169 points, and climbed steadily after the bell at 9:15 am. The value of all companies listed on the BSE rose by about ₹3.6 lakh crore to ₹478.9 lakh crore within 40 minutes of the open.

Oil gives the market room

The main lift came from crude. Brent was down 2.7% at $110.37 a barrel in early trade and US crude fell 2.9% to $101.12, as Iran and Qatar kept talking about a way to end the war in the Gulf. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the talks were moving forward but had not reached a conclusion. US President Donald Trump has said Washington will not launch new attacks on Iran before Tuesday’s midterm elections, though he has not ruled out action after that.

For India, which imports most of its oil, every dollar off the price eases pressure on the import bill and on the rupee. The rupee opened 7 paise stronger at 94.89 to the dollar, against Friday’s close of 94.96.

Reliance leads, pharma lags

Reliance Industries was the biggest gainer on both indices. The stock touched a day’s high of ₹1,237.30, up 6.22%, after the company reported a 41% rise in quarterly profit attributable to shareholders. Tata Steel and NTPC each rose more than 3%, and Max Healthcare and Maruti Suzuki gained between 2.5% and 3%.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell about 1.5% after reporting a 36% drop in quarterly profit, and Apollo Hospitals, Infosys and Tech Mahindra also slipped. Among sectors, the Nifty Oil & Gas index rose about 2.4%, the most of any group, while Nifty PSU Bank, Metal and Auto each gained more than 1%. Pharma and media were marginally lower.

The rally was broad. The Nifty Next 50 rose 1.16% and the Nifty Midcap 100 0.78% at the open, while the smallcap indices made smaller gains. India VIX, the market’s fear gauge, edged up 1.4% to 15.52.

What traders are watching

The gains came despite a weak lead from New York, where the Nasdaq fell 2.86% on Friday as investors worried about heavy spending on artificial intelligence. Asian markets were mixed, with Seoul’s Kospi higher and Tokyo’s Nikkei slightly lower.

Later on Monday, ITC, Marico and NALCO are due to report results, and the final HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for October is expected. Markets are pricing a 72% chance of a US rate rise in December, and the US midterm vote on Tuesday is the next big test for global risk appetite.