RIL, Airtel drive Sensex 150 pts higher, Nifty above 24,900
ADVERTISEMENT The BSE Sensex rose 181 points, or 0.22%, to 81,456 at 10:45 am, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 52 points, or 0.21%, to trade at 24,921. On Monday, both gauges had climbed about 1%.
On the 30-sock Sensex, shares of Reliance Industries Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, NTPC and Titan led the gains, advancing between 0.6% and 2%.
On a sectoral basis, IT stocks were up 0.3% and oil & gas stocks were trading 0.7% higher.In broader markets, the midcap and smallcap indices rose 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said White House talks suggest there is a 'reasonable chance of ending the war,' which, if it materializes, would make the secondary tariff on India's purchases of Russian oil irrelevant. 'This may turn out to be a positive from the market perspective,' he noted, though he cautioned it would be premature to expect a constructive response from the Trump administration given strained India-U.S. ties, adding that "India has been making tactical initiatives to improve relations with China even while reinforcing the already strong relations with Russia."
ADVERTISEMENT On the domestic front, Vijayakumar said the government's policy push on goods and services tax (GST), with signals of next-generation reforms, has boosted market sentiment. 'However, the fundamentals (earnings growth) will take time to respond. A sustained rally in the market will happen only when we have indications of earnings revival,' he said. Unlock 500+ Stock Recos on App The government's push on GST reforms comes against a more supportive geopolitical backdrop. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said security guarantees for his country could be finalized within 10 days after talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders.
ADVERTISEMENT Trump later said he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was seeking to arrange meetings with Zelenskiy, with the goal of convening a trilateral summit.
ADVERTISEMENT Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday ahead of a key gathering of global central bankers, even as investors weighed encouraging signals of a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.Meanwhile, the European equity futures ticked higher after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said security guarantees for his country could be finalized within 10 days following talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders.In Japan, the Nikkei briefly touched a fresh intraday high before reversing course to fall 0.5%, dragged down by a 5% drop in SoftBank Group after it disclosed a $2 billion investment in struggling U.S. chipmaker Intel.
ADVERTISEMENT MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2% in early trade, tracking modest losses on Wall Street overnight.In Europe, futures showed modest gains, with the Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.3%, Germany's DAX adding 0.2%, and FTSE contracts advancing 0.3%.
On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 551 crore on August 18, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 4,104 crore.
Oil prices eased in early Asian trading Tuesday as investors weighed the prospect of three-way talks among Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. that could pave the way for an end to sanctions on Russian crude. Brent futures slipped 7 cents, or 0.11%, to $66.53 a barrel by 0000 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate for September delivery, set to expire Wednesday, fell 6 cents, or 0.09%, to $63.36.
The Indian rupee strengthened 16 paise to 87.23 against the U.S. dollar in early trade Tuesday, bucking the greenback's gains against major peers and Asian currencies.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, edged higher to 98.171 after rising 0.2% in the previous session.
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