Reliance Industries, metals buoy Indian shares; weaker oil prices aid sentiment

India’s benchmark indexes closed higher in a choppy session on Thursday, led by high-weight Reliance Industries and metal stocks, while a drop in oil prices also aided sentiment.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.93% to 22,544.70, while the BSE Sensex ended 0.83% higher at 74,340.09, gaining for a second straight day.

The broader mid-cap and small-cap indexes rose 0.4% and 1.3%, respectively.

The blue-chip Nifty 50 rose for two straight sessions, gaining about 2%, after posting its longest losing streak on record on Tuesday. The 50-stock index is down 14.2% from its record highs hit in late September.

“With such deep correction, even a small change in sentiment could trigger a short-to-medium term bounce,” said Apurva Sheth, head of market perspectives and research at SAMCO Securities.

With U.S. President Donald Trump exempting automakers from 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month, investors held out hopes that trade tensions could ease. MSCI Asia ex-Japan rose 1.2%.

However, analysts cautioned that uncertainty will prevail in the market.

Indian benchmarks likely to be muted as world stocks jitter ahead of Trump tariffs

“The prices in markets are good, but the tariff news is unnerving. There is uncertainty over when Trump will tweet something and set the markets on a tailspin,” Sheth said.

Reliance Industries, the second heaviest stock on the Nifty 50, rose about 3%, after positive commentary from several brokerages.

Metal stocks climbed 2.3%, adding to Wednesday’s gains on China’s steel output cut and expectations of stimulus measures.

The decline in crude prices to multi-year low powered Indian oil-marketing companies. The fall in oil prices is a positive for major oil-importing countries such as India as crude constitutes a significant share of the import bill.

Bharat Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, and Indian Oil Corp rose between 2.9% and 4%, gaining for the fourth straight session.

Asian Paints jumped about 5% and was the top Nifty gainer as weaker prices of key raw material crude were seen boosting its margins.