Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Thursday, supported by buying in heavyweight stocks including Reliance Industries, softer crude oil prices, and continued investor participation despite mixed global market cues.
The benchmark BSE Sensex rose more than 201 points in early trade to 78,782, while the NSE Nifty 50 also opened in positive territory and traded around 24,641 during the opening session.
The early gains were supported by multiple factors, including a modest decline in international crude oil prices. As India is one of the world's largest oil importers, lower oil prices are generally viewed as supportive for both the economy and financial markets.
Buying interest in Reliance Industries, Titan and other large-cap companies also provided support to the benchmark indices. Investors showed interest in companies considered to have b earnings and growth prospects.
Market participants are also closely tracking the recently introduced Closing Auction Session (CAS) system in the Indian equity market. The mechanism has been implemented for stocks that are part of the Futures and Options (F&O) segment and is intended to make the determination of closing prices more transparent and fair.
According to market experts, the new process could result in unusual fluctuations in benchmark indices and certain stocks during the initial phase of implementation. They added that the system is expected to improve market credibility over the longer term.
Despite the gains in equities, the Indian rupee weakened slightly against the US dollar. In early trade, the rupee declined by around 7 paise to 95.15 per US dollar.
According to experts, movements in global currency markets, US economic data and the strategy of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) will continue to play an important role in determining the rupee's direction. They said the decline remained limited and is not currently being viewed as a matter of concern.
Among the major gainers in early trade were Titan Company, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), State Bank of India (SBI), Asian Paints and Eternal.
On the other hand, Power Grid, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Axis Bank traded under pressure amid profit booking during the opening session.
Brent crude traded at around $79.35 per barrel after registering a modest decline in international markets.
Lower crude oil prices are generally considered favourable for import-dependent economies such as India, as they can help reduce the import bill, contain inflation and improve the current account balance.
Lower energy costs may also benefit several industries and consumers, providing support to economic activity.
Investor sentiment was also supported by the Reserve Bank of India's latest monetary policy decision. The central bank kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% for the fourth consecutive time and retained its "neutral" policy stance, indicating that future decisions will depend on inflation and economic growth data.
The RBI also raised its GDP growth forecast for the current financial year to 6.7% while lowering its retail inflation projection to 5%.
