Indian equities started the day strong on Thursday, propelled by a wave of purchases in technology shares. By 9:23 AM, benchmark Sensex was up 114 points (0.14%) at 83,861, and Nifty gained 39 points (0.15%) to 25,859, setting an upbeat tone for traders.
IT heavyweights shouldered the market’s rise, pushing Nifty IT more than 1% higher to top the sectoral charts. Gains extended to metal, auto, commodities, defence, pharma, energy, healthcare, and PSU banking indices, all posting positive returns in early trade.
Not all sectors joined the party, though—Nifty Private Bank, Realty, Consumer Durables, Media, and FMCG slipped into negative territory. Broader market participation was evident as Nifty Midcap 100 inched up 11 points to 60,199, and Smallcap 100 added 16 points to 17,255.
Sensex frontrunners featured HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, NTPC, HUL, and Bharti Airtel, while decliners included Indigo, Asian Paints, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, BEL, Trent, and Bajaj Finserv.
Overseas, Asian bourses in Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul, and Jakarta traded higher, with US markets ending positively overnight. Commodity markets echoed the bullishness: WTI crude up 0.51% at $65.35/oz, Brent at $70.60 (up 0.36%), silver at $78/oz (up 0.64%), though gold fell 0.15% to $5,002/oz.
Market analysts point to heightened US-Iran geopolitical risks and Fed policy signals as catalysts for commodity buying. Investors will watch closely for sustained IT-led momentum and potential rotation into laggard sectors as the day unfolds.