By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks logged a sixth consecutive session of gains on Thursday, as prospects of a trade deal with the United States and a recovery in corporate earnings buoyed investors.
The Nifty 50 closed 0.09% higher at 25,891.4, and the BSE Sensex added 0.15% to 84,556.4. They rose as much as 0.9% intraday but fell after the six-session rally hit nearly 4%.
India and the United States are nearing a long-stalled trade agreement that would reduce U.S. tariffs on Indian imports to 15% to 16% from 50%, according to a media report. Meanwhile, Indian refiners are poised to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with new U.S. sanctions.
The recent rally has priced in the optimism around a potential trade deal, said Samrat Dasgupta, CEO of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.
“So while sentiment remains positive, a period of consolidation wouldn’t be surprising.”
The benchmarks are trading about 1.5% below their all-time highs hit in September 2024.
On the day, seven of the 16 major sectors logged gains, while the broader mid-caps and small-caps ended little changed. Textile and shrimp companies surged on prospects of lower U.S. levies.
Stable earnings from banks and heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, along with optimism surrounding festival season sales, have also had a hand in boosting investor sentiment.
IT companies, which get a substantial chunk of revenue from the U.S., jumped 2.2%, topping sectoral gainers.
Infosys climbed 3.8%, and was the biggest gainer on the Nifty 50 and Nifty IT indexes, after its promoters decided to not participate in the company’s share buyback.
While investors could see it as a sign of promoters’ confidence in the company’s fundamentals, it could also be that the promoters did not find any tax benefits in buying back the shares, according to analysts.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Harikrishnan Nair)
