Mumbai’s bustling stock exchanges kicked off Thursday’s trading session on a positive note, buoyed by robust buying in IT stocks. At 9:23 AM, the Sensex climbed 114 points, or 0.14%, to stand at 83,861, while the Nifty advanced 39 points, or 0.15%, reaching 25,859.
The IT sector emerged as the star performer early in the day, with the Nifty IT index surging over 1%, leading the pack of gainers. Other sectors like Nifty Metal, Auto, Commodities, India Defence, Pharma, Energy, Healthcare, and PSU Bank also traded in green, reflecting broad-based optimism.
In contrast, private banks, realty, consumer durables, media, and FMCG indices dipped into the red, providing some counterbalance to the upward momentum. Midcap and smallcap segments mirrored the largecaps with modest gains; the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 16 points to 17,255, and Nifty Midcap 100 edged up 11 points to 60,199.
Top gainers in the Sensex included HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, NTPC, HUL, and Bharti Airtel. On the losing side were Indigo, Asian Paints, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, BEL, Trent, and Bajaj Finserv.
Global cues remained supportive, with Asian markets like Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul, and Jakarta showing strength. Hong Kong, Taipei, and Shanghai were closed, while US indices closed higher on Wednesday. In commodities, WTI crude gained 0.51% to $65.35 per barrel, Brent crude rose 0.36% to $70.60, and silver advanced 0.64% to $78 per ounce. Gold, however, softened 0.15% to $5,002 per ounce.
Experts attribute the commodity uptick to escalating US-Iran tensions and a favorable stance from the Federal Reserve, spurring investor interest. As the session progresses, all eyes will be on whether this early momentum sustains amid mixed sectoral performances.