Indian Stock Market Hits 6-Month High as Sensex Climbs 418 Points, Nifty Ends Above 17,700

New Delhi: The benchmark Sensex surged 418 points, reaching a six-month high, while the Nifty closed above the 17,700 mark on Tuesday. This was driven by positive domestic macroeconomic data and gains in global markets. Index majors like Reliance Industries and ITC contributed to the optimism in equities with their buying activities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 418.45 points or 0.67% to settle at 63,143.16, a level not seen since December 1. Throughout the day, the index advanced 452.76 points or 0.72% to 63,177.47. The NSE Nifty rose 114.65 points or 0.62% to end at 18,716.15.

Major gainers among the Sensex pack were ITC, Titan, Asian Paints, Reliance, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, and ICICI Bank. However, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Motors were among the laggards.

The market’s positive sentiment was supported by better-than-expected domestic macroeconomic data. Retail inflation reached a 25-month low of 4.25% in May, primarily due to decreasing food and fuel prices. Additionally, India’s industrial production growth rose to 4.2% in April, driven by the manufacturing and mining sectors.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.17%, while the smallcap index climbed 0.82%. Among the sectors, realty rallied 2.94%, consumer durables zoomed 1.80%, telecommunication grew by 1.69%, FMCG increased by 1.38%, healthcare rose by 1.04%, metal gained 1.03%, and commodities advanced by 0.90%. The services sector was the only laggard.

Global equities provided positive cues, with Asian markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ending in the green. European equity markets were mostly trading positively, while US markets closed in positive territory on Monday.

The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, climbed 1.55% to reach USD 72.95 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 626.62 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.