Indian stock markets rise in early trade as foreign funds flow in and crude oil prices drop

Indian stock markets opened higher on Thursday as foreign money kept flowing into the country and global crude oil prices dropped.

Market Numbers

The 30-share BSE Sensex went up by 166.44 points to reach 82,013.58 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 55.65 points to touch 25,316.55. Among the Sensex companies, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Eternal, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank made gains. On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever saw losses.

Market Drivers

Foreign Institutional Investors bought shares worth ₹12,563.33 crore on Wednesday. Brent crude, which is the global oil benchmark, traded lower by 1.12 percent at $91.75 per barrel. V.K. Vijayakumar, who is the Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd., stated that the Nifty rally of 9.55 percent so far in November is being led mainly by heavy buying from foreign investors. He added that these investors have already put ₹65,735 crore into Indian shares this month.

Global Markets

Other stock markets across Asia showed mixed trends. South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded lower, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index went up. Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets finished higher on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.60 percent, the S&P 500 went up by 1.31 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.49 percent.

Context

Stock markets often react quickly to changes in oil prices because India imports a large share of its crude oil needs. When global oil prices fall, it reduces cost pressures for the country and helps improve investor confidence.