Stock markets surge for 2nd day on firm global trends, fresh foreign fund inflows

Benchmark Sensex climbed 446 points on Thursday, extending gains for the second consecutive day on buying in oil & gas and select financial shares and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 446.21 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 85,632.68. During the day, it surged 615.23 points or 0.72 per cent to hit a 52-week high of 85,801.70.

The 50-share NSE Nifty also hit its 52-week high of 26,246.65 during the day before closing at 26,192.15, reflecting gains of 139.50 points or 0.54 per cent over the previous close.

A rally in global peers helped indices scale their year-high levels intra-day, analysts said.

Among Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank were the major gainers.

However, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Titan and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

"Indian equities rose on optimism around India–US trade talks and progress on phase-1 agreements, boosting overall market sentiment. Global cues also remained strong, led by tech-driven gains following solid earnings. Fresh FII inflows and strength in large-cap sectors such as Auto, Financials, and IT supported the upbeat trend," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled higher while Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended lower.

European markets were quoting higher. US markets ended in positive territory on Wednesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday. They bought equities worth Rs 1,580.72 crore in the previous trade, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought stocks worth Rs 1,360.27 crore on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.83 per cent to USD 64.03 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 513.45 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 85,186.47. The Nifty climbed 142.60 points or 0.55 per cent to 26,052.65.