Indian shares closed higher Oct. 29 as quarterly results supported a broad rebound, while Brent crude’s latest advance added a risk to gains in the next trading session.
The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) tracker showed the Nifty 50 ended at 22,936.75, up 237.90 points, or 1.05%. The BSE Sensex rose 905.01 points, or 1.24%, to 74,151.04, according to figures reported by Reuters and Business Standard.
Reuters and Business Standard pointed to quarterly earnings as a driver of the advance. The Federal Open Market Committee, the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting body, kept its federal funds target range at 3.75% to 4% in a decision announced Oct. 28 and effective Oct. 29.
Premarket trading offered another signal: Reuters reported GIFT Nifty futures at 22,981 at 10:12 p.m. ET Thursday (02:12 UTC Friday), above the NSE index’s Oct. 29 close. The futures figure indicated a possible direction before trading began, rather than the cash market’s opening price.
Crude was the counterweight. Reuters reported Brent crude futures up 2.2% at $117.4 a barrel in Friday’s early-market coverage and linked the move to Houthi claims of attacks on Saudi sites. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the claim involving the Ras Tanura refinery had not been independently verified and Saudi Arabia had not commented at the time.
Reuters also cited provisional figures showing foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of ₹9.44 billion in equities on Oct. 29, while domestic institutional investors bought ₹19.24 billion. The NSE says institutional-flow figures are provisional and may change.
Choice Broking technical research analyst Hitesh Tailor described the market’s broader bias as “cautiously positive,” Reuters reported. For Oct. 30, Reliance Industries said its board was scheduled to consider results for the quarter and half year ended Sept. 30. The NSE event calendar also listed results meetings for Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Bharat Electronics that day.
