SENSEX, NIFTY50 resume up move led by gains in ICICI Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India

The Indian equity benchmarks resumed their up move on Tuesday, August 25, after a day’s pause in the previous session, as sentiment improved tracking a decline in crude oil and strength in rupee against the US dollar.

The SENSEX rose as much as 297 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday 24,335 and a low of 24,115 led by gains in the index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The SENSEX ended 287 points higher at 77,656 and NIFTY50 index advanced 116 points to close at 24,335.

In August F&O series, NIFTY50 index advanced 1.46% and NIFTY Bank index rose 1.34%, data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Brent Crude futures fell as much as 3.19% to hit an intraday low of $87.65 per barrel.

Meanwhile, strengthening rupee against the US dollar added to the positive sentiment for investors. The local unit rose 27 paise to close at 95.43 against the greenback.

12 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Healthcare index's 1% gain. NIFTY Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, IT, Media, Pharma, PSU Bank, and Consumer Durables indices also rose between 0.4% and 0.9%.

On the other hand, NIFTY Private Bank, Metal and Bank indices closed lower.

Broader markets ended mixed as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.54% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index slipped 0.1%.

Fertiliser shares such as FACT, Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilisers and Paradeep Phosphates among others surged up to 17% after Russia assured India of uninterrupted supply of energy and fertilisers amid disruption caused by the West Asia crisis, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and held talks with his key interlocutors.

Russian President Putin assured India of uninterrupted supply of energy and fertilisers amid disruption caused by the West Asia crisis.

Hindustan Copper shares dropped 7.45% to close at ₹532.65 after the government of India, which owns a majority stake in the copper mining company, was selling up to 6% of its holdings through an offer for sale (OFS) at a floor price of ₹514 per share, according to the latest exchange filing.

The initial stake sale OFS deal is for 3% or 2,90,10,721 shares of the company, with an additional option to sell another 3% stake in the company on the market.

Adani Enterprises was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 3.72% to close at ₹3,110. Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, InterGlobe Aviation, Adani Ports, Shriram Finance, Infosys, Eternal, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance also rose between 1% and 2.6%.

On the flip side, HDFC Life, Cipla, ONGC, Coal India, Hindalco, Wipro, JSW Steel, HCL Tech and SBI Life were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was marginally negative as 1,843 shares ended lower while 1,672 closed higher on the NSE.