Oil & gas stocks take Nifty above 17,800, Sensex jumps 445 points

After staying sideways for the most part of the first half of today’s session domestic benchmark equity indices gained momentum in the second half as fresh buying emerged in index heavyweights ONGC, IndusInd Bank, IOC, Coal India and Bharti Airtel. At close, Sensex jumps 445 points or 0.75% to 59,744. Likewise, the Nifty 50 settled at 17,822 adding 131 points or 0.74%. "Bulls took charge of the proceedings today powered by the Oil & Gas and IT sector while the PSE Index continued to lend strong support to the rally. The real action however was seen in the broader market where the breadth was indeed impressive with several companies in sectors like Power, Textiles, IMFL, Paper & Chemicals participating in the rally," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

Gainers & losers

[caption id="attachment_87254" align="alignnone" width="795"] Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.[/caption]

Sectoral strand

Sectoral indices ended mixed on the NSE. Nifty IT index rallied 1.19% as brokerages shared their outlook on Q2FY22 earnings for the sector. Nifty Auto, Nifty Bank gained 0.48% and 0.43% respectively. On the downside, Nifty Realty plummeted 1.39%, Nifty Pharma index lost 0.56%. While Nifty Metal index was down 0.22% and Nifty FMCG index ended flat with a negative bias of 0.04%. The volatility gauge India VIX cooled off further by 2% to 16.39 levels.

Broader markets

The broader markets underperformed benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index advanced just 84 points or 0.33% to 25,688. Whereas the BSE SmallCap index settled at 28,851 gaining 154 points or 0.54% Bulls overpowered bears in today’s session as 2,081 stocks advanced compared to 1,202 declined and 166 remained unchanged.

Economy

The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index posted 55.2 in September, highlighting a marked increase in output. Despite falling from August's 18-month high of 56.7, the latest reading remained well above its long-run average. Where activity growth was reported, panellists mentioned accommodative market conditions and favourable underlying demand amid the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Global markets

European shares advanced in early trade while Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday. Markets in mainland Chinese are closed through Thursday for the Golden Week holidays. U.S. stock benchmarks tumbled on Monday as concerns about sticker-than-expected inflation grow on rising oil prices. A selloff for stocks deepened Monday, with markets succumbing to pressure in technology and tech-related stocks. On Monday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies kept their current agreement to gradually raise crude production each month, including a 400,000 barrels a day increase in November. New orders for US-made goods accelerated in August. The Commerce Department said on Monday that factory orders increased 1.2% in August. Data for July was revised higher to show orders rising 0.7% instead of gaining 0.4% as previously reported.