Mumbai’s benchmark indices closed in positive territory for the third straight session on Thursday, fueled by optimistic projections in the Economic Survey. The Sensex climbed 221.69 points, or 0.27%, to settle at 82,566.37, while the Nifty advanced 76.15 points, or 0.30%, at 25,418.90.
Market participants attributed the upward momentum to the survey’s robust growth forecasts for the economy, which instilled confidence among investors. Sectors like metals and energy led the charge, with Nifty Metal surging 3.07%, Nifty Energy up 1.87%, and Nifty Commodities gaining 1.58%. Private banks, infrastructure, PSEs, and oil & gas also posted solid advances of over 0.78%.
However, not all sectors shared the enthusiasm. Nifty India Defence fell 1.21%, followed by declines in healthcare (0.96%), FMCG (0.91%), pharma (0.81%), PSU banks (0.79%), IT (0.76%), and auto (0.68%). Midcap and smallcap stocks outperformed largecaps, with Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.18% at 58,541 and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.20% to 16,825.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Tata Steel, L&T, Axis Bank, Eternal, NTPC, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, SBI, HDFC Bank, and Bajaj Finserv. Losers were Asian Paints, Indigo, Maruti Suzuki, BEL, M&M, TCS, Sun Pharma, HUL, Trent, Titan, ITC, and UltraTech Cement.
Experts pointed to the Economic Survey’s strong growth outlook for FY27 as a key driver. Meanwhile, escalating US-Iran tensions have pushed gold and silver prices higher, with MCX gold crossing 1.70 lakh rupees per 10 grams and silver surpassing 4 lakh rupees per kg amid global uncertainties.