Benchmarks surge to nine-month highs as bank stocks, RIL power rally 

The current three-day uptrend is being driven by easing geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic support from weak dollar and strong domestic flows
| Photo Credit:
FRANCIS MASCARENHAS

Stock indices closed at a nine-month high on Thursday, rising for the third straight session led by a rally in private bank stocks, Reliance Industries, and supported by metal stocks.

The rally gained momentum through the session with optimism stemming from easing Israel-Iran tensions and cooling oil prices.

The Sensex soared over 1,000 points to end at 83,755.87 and while the Nifty50 jumped 304 points to 25,549, with index heavyweight RIL gaining 2 per cent. Among banks, HDFC Bank rose nearly 2 per cent to a record high, helped by the IPO of its subsidiary HDB Financial Services getting fully subscribed.

The Bank Nifty hit a fresh all-time high, gaining 585.55 points or 1.03 per cent to close at 57,206.70. “Bank Nifty marked a new all-time high in today’s session. The rally was primarily driven by private sector banks, which had previously shown muted momentum,” said Kunal Kamble, Senior Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

Other frontline gainers were Shriram Finance, Jio Financial Services, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Grasim.

The broader market showed selective participation with BSE Midcap 100 gaining 0.59 per cent.

“The current three-day uptrend is being driven by easing geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic support from weak dollar and strong domestic flows,” said Pranay Aggarwal, Director and CEO of Stoxkart. “However, the rally warrants selective participation given elevated valuations.”

Rupee up 0.4%

The rupee strengthened to a two-week high, rising 0.4 per cent to settle 85.7050 against the dollar. “Falling crude prices and a weaker dollar provided strong support to the rupee. With improving global risk sentiment, the rupee may head towards 85.25,” noted Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.

The rise in the rupee was driven by a weaker US dollar index, which fell to a three-year low, last quoted at 97.264, with speculation swirling that US President Donald Trump would consider nomnating the next US Fed chair early, potentially compromising the independence of the monetary authority.

Gold remained range-bound with “MCX Gold expected to trade within ₹95,500 to ₹98,500 in the near term,” Trivedi added, as dollar weakness provided support while Fed’s stance weighed on sentiment.

US markets opened positive, with the Dow Jones gaining 0.26 per cent and Nasdaq rising 0.31 per cent. The S&P seemed set to touch record highs in opening trades on prospects of economic resilience and the easing of geopolitical tensions.

Looking ahead, analysts remain bullish. “After consolidating for over five weeks, markets have resumed their uptrend, and we expect Nifty to move towards 25,700–25,800,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP Research at Religare Broking. Rupak De at LKP Securities expects the rally to extend another 150-200 points with no major resistance until 25,700-25,750.

Published on June 26, 2025