India’s stock market rose for a fourth consecutive session today, ahead of the traditional Muhurat Trading session for Diwali tomorrow, due to better-than-expected earnings from banks and Reliance Industries Ltd.
The Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex increased about 0.5% each to one-year highs of 25,843.15 points and 84,363.37 points, respectively. Their 2.8% gain over four sessions has left them less than 2% shy of their lifetime highs hit in September 2024. Twelve of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose about 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.
The “domestic markets will reverse their underperformance over global peers as optimism is gradually returning…,” Amisha Vora, chairperson and MD at PL Capital, told Reuters. “The stage is set for recovery as valuations are reasonable and earnings downgrades have bottomed out.”
Stocks In Focus
- Reliance’s share price rose 3.52% to a three-month high of ₹1 ,466.80 after its second-quarter results, with analysts bullish on earnings outlook.
- Punjab National Bank gained 3.9% after its results, while State Bank of India rode the optimism to a 2.1% gain.
- HDFC Bank shares closed flat but not before it hit a lifetime high of ₹1,020.00 apiece on stable quarterly results.
- ICICI Bank shares fell 3.2% despite beating quarterly profit estimates on concerns about soft loan and deposits growth.
- RBL Bank jumped nearly 10% after Emirates NBD bank invested a little over $3 billion for a 60% stake in the private lender.
The muhurat trading session is scheduled for 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on Tuesday.
