Indian shares gain as oil prices fall; banks, techs rise

People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Hemanshi Kamani

BENGALURU, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Indian shares closed 1% higher on Thursday, snapping two straight sessions of losses, led by gains in banking and technology stocks and a slump in oil prices.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was 0.99% higher at 17,798.75, at close, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 1.12% to 59,688.22.

Investor sentiment in domestic equities was buoyed by oil prices tumbling to over seven-month lows on concerns over demand, with both the benchmark indexes hitting a near three-week high in the trading session.

“Even with the muted global cues, domestic equities look to be doing well on fall in oil prices,” Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets said, adding that valuations looked attractive due to a recent correction.

India, the world’s third-largest importer of oil, benefits from a fall in prices as it brings down imported inflation.

Among Nifty sub-indexes, the Nifty IT index (.NIFTYIT) and bank indexes (.NSEBANK), (.NIFPVTBNK), (.NIFTYPSU) were the top gainers, climbing between 0.9% and 2.5%, respectively, whilethe metals index (.NIFTYMET) fell 0.9%.

Shree Cement (SHCM.NS) and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.NS) were the top performers on the Nifty 50 index, advancing 5.5% and nearly 4%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the market is likely to remain volatile amid uncertainty over the magnitude of the Federal Reserve’s next rate hike, said Prashanth Tapse, research analyst at Mehta Equities Ltd.

“The key intraday support for the Nifty 50 will likely be at 17,551,” Tapse said.

Among other individual stock moves, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INGL.NS), the operator of India’s top airline IndiGo, closed 2% lower after hitting an over one-month low. Local media reports said co-founder Rakesh Gangwal will likely sell a 2.8% stake in the airline. (https://bit.ly/3S2TJ5h)

Schneider Electric Infrastructure Ltd (SEIN.NS) settled 9.9% higher a day after the company said it would expand its production capacity by setting up a manufacturing unit in the Indian city of Kolkata. (https://bit.ly/3RDDBXK)

Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Dhanya Ann Thoppil

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