Indian equities surged on Wednesday in a broad rally, taking benchmark indices closer to their highs, powered by renewed foreign investor inflows and strengthening expectations of a potential US Federal Reserve rate cut and Reserve Bank of India policy easing in December.
The Nifty 50 rose 1.24 per cent to a 14-month high of 26205.3, while the BSE Sensex rebounded by 1022.50 points to reach 86,609.51, breaking a three-session losing streak. Both benchmarks posted their best session in five months and ended about 0.4 per cent below their September 2024 record highs.
Shares of Reliance Industries climbed 2 per cent, taking its market valuation to ₹21 lakh crore.
The market heavyweight stock went up by 1.99 per cent to settle at ₹1,569.75 on the BSE. During the day, the stock rallied 2.12 per cent to ₹1,571.80 — its 52-week high. At the NSE, the firm’s shares edged higher by 1.96 per cent to ₹1,569.90. During the day, the stock reached its 52-week high of ₹1,571.60.
“FII (foreign institutional investor) buying returned on Tuesday, reinforcing bullish sentiment, while heavyweights including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries added stability to the rally,” Gaurav Garg, research analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
“Indian markets staged an impressive rally on Wednesday, with broad-based buying across sectors reflecting the sharp risk-on sentiment in global equities. The upmove was supported by growing expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut in December, after the latest US economic releases — including September retail sales and producer price data — signalled softening demand and cooling inflation,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
“The all-time high now sits within striking distance and appears more like a near-term formality,” said Rajesh Bhosale, equity technical analyst, Angel One.
FIIs bought equities worth ₹785.32 crore on Tuesday, and domestic institutional investors also purchased stocks worth ₹3,912.47 crore, according to exchange data.
The BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.32 per cent and the smallcap index climbed 1.23 per cent. Among sectoral indices, metal surged 2.08 per cent, oil & gas jumped 1.81 per cent, followed by energy (1.68 per cent), capital goods (1.65 per cent), services (1.63 per cent), power (1.59 per cent) and commodities (1.58 per cent).
BSE Telecommunication emerged as the only laggard. Bucking the trend, telecom operator Bharti Airtel fell 1.6 per cent after multiple block deals at a discount.
Brent crude went up marginally by 0.03 per cent to $62.50 per barrel.