Domestic equity markets staged a massive rally on Thursday as benchmark indices extended their uninterrupted winning streak for the sixth consecutive trading session, propelled by cooling international crude oil prices, renewed foreign portfolio inflows, and broad-based accumulation across heavyweights. The 30-share BSE Sensex vaulted 2,008.61 points, or 2.60 percent, to close at 79,310.01 after touching an intraday peak of 79,470.03 and oscillating across a 949-point range. In tandem, the broader 50-share NSE Nifty surged 576 points, or 2.40 percent, to conquer the crucial psychological threshold and settle at 24,536.60, with midcap and smallcap segments joining the celebratory mood as the BSE MidCap Select and SmallCap Select indices climbed 1.79 percent and 0.22 percent respectively.
Nifty Auto Leaps 4% and Bank Nifty Jumps 3.3% as Cheaper Crude Boosts Margins
Sectoral performance mirrored heavy risk-on sentiment, led primarily by interest-rate-sensitive and commodity-dependent counters benefiting directly from declining energy costs. Nifty Auto emerged as the day’s standout performer with a 4.14 percent surge, followed closely by Nifty Financial Services leaping 3.97 percent and Nifty Realty gaining 3.44 percent, while Nifty Media was the isolated drag, dipping 0.84 percent. Market strategists pointed out that the 3.33 percent advance in Bank Nifty proved decisive in broadening the rally beyond defensive consumer names into high-beta financial assets, while softening crude oil prices provided a strong margin tailwind for aviation carriers, paint manufacturers, and automotive players even as upstream oil producers lagged on weaker realization forecasts.
Bajaj Finance Soars 7.8% Among Top Gainers as Rupee Holds Ground at 94.46
Market breadth remained heavily skewed in favor of the bulls, with 24 out of 30 Sensex components and 39 of the 50 Nifty constituents closing in positive territory. Leading the charge among frontline blue-chips, Bajaj Finance rallied 7.77 percent, closely tracked by IndiGo, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Mahindra & Mahindra, while state-run utilities and defense counters including NTPC, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Adani Ports, ITC, and Power Grid faced modest profit-taking, with Power Grid slipping 0.38 percent. Meanwhile, in the foreign exchange market, the Indian rupee settled flat at 94.46 against the US dollar, as the benefits of softer crude import bills balanced out a resilient greenback in overseas markets, offering near-term stability to domestic currency traders following days of high volatility.