Sensex jumps over 250 pts, Nifty above 25,600; PSU Bank stocks lead

Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 opened marginally higher for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, tracking positive cues from global peers and supported by optimism over sustained foreign inflows.

The BSE Sensex was trading 250.16 points, or 0.30%, higher at 84,006.03. The Nifty50 was up 78.55 points, or 0.31%, trading at 25,627.55 around 2:05 pm.

Both indices have gained around 2.3% over the last three sessions, aided by easing tensions in the Middle East and a rally in banking stocks and Reliance Industries ahead of the earnings season.

Meanwhile, foreign investors bought Indian equities worth Rs 12,590 crore ($1.5 billion) on Thursday, according to provisional data — marking their biggest single-day inflow in nine months.

Among Sensex constituents, L&T, Tata Steel, SBI, Tata Motors, NTPC, and Trent were the top gainers, rising up to 1.5%. In contrast, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Bajaj Finance opened in the red.

Akzo Nobel India shares surged 5% after promoter entities signed a share purchase agreement with JSW Paints to sell their entire 74.76% stake in a Rs 9,400 crore deal, following months of negotiations.

On the sectoral front, Nifty PSU Bank jumped 1.2% in early trade, led by gains in Bank of Baroda, SBI, and Bank of Maharashtra. Nifty Metal rose 1%, while Nifty IT added 0.6%.

On the sectoral front, Nifty PSU Bank jumped 1.2% in early trade, led by gains in Bank of Baroda, SBI, and Bank of Maharashtra. Nifty Metal rose 1%, while Nifty IT added 0.6%.

Expert View

"A significant development in the currency market is the sustained weakness in the dollar with the dollar index declining to around 97. This explains the big FII investment of Rs 12594 crores yesterday which is a huge buy figure even though it includes some bulk deals," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

"This big FII buying has lifted large caps like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti, RIL and Bajaj Finance, which in turn, has contributed to the sharp spike in the benchmark indices. The market momentum is strong but some profit booking is likely in the near-term," Vijayakumar added.

Global Markets

Asia shares hit their highest level in more than three years on Friday as they tracked a Wall Street rally, though the dollar struggled on concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence and expectations for early rate cuts.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched its strongest level since November 2021 early in the session. It last traded 0.2% higher and is set to clock a 3% gain for the week.

Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.5% and surpassed the 40,000 mark for the first time in five months.

European futures also gained, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures both up 0.6%, while FTSE futures advanced 0.16%.

FII/DII Tracker

The Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) snapped three day selling and bought equities worth Rs 12,594 crore on June 26, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) broke three day buying, as they sold equities worth Rs 195 crore on the same day.

Crude Oil

Oil was set to fall this week with the Iran-Israel ceasefire holding and easing concerns over Middle East supply risks, although prices rose on Friday as the summer driving season ramped up fuel demand in the United States.

Brent crude futures rose 34 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.07 a barrel by 0111 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 33 cents, or 0.51%, to $65.57 a barrel. The benchmarks were set to fall about 12% for the week.

Rupee vs Dollar

The Indian rupee rose 25 paise to 85.47 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, surged 0.19% to 97.33 level.

(With inputs from agencies)