Indian markets rise on strong opening, boosted by Reliance earnings and global cues

Indian benchmark indices opened higher on November 3, with the GIFT Nifty trading around 23,551 points, suggesting a gap-up start for domestic equities. The Nifty closed the previous session at 23,440.80, up 1.68%, while the Sensex rose 1.66% to 75,692.78, helped by strong buying in heavyweight stocks, notably Reliance Industries, which jumped over 11% after reporting solid Q2 earnings.

The rally was supported by a decline in U.S. Treasury yields, easing Brent crude prices amid hopes of progress in talks to end the Iran conflict, and robust GST collections for October. Reliance’s market capitalisation surpassed Rs 17 lakh crore following its record earnings and bullish brokerage forecasts.

Globally, Asian markets opened lower after a sell-off in U.S. chipmakers and a drop in oil prices, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index down 0.4% and South Korea’s Kospi falling nearly 3%. In the United States, the S&P 500 slipped 0.51% to 7,541.40 points, the Nasdaq fell 1.07% to 25,164.32, while the Dow Jones rose 0.41% to 51,983.98.

The dollar index hovered near 101.76, slightly weaker after reaching a one-month low, and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields held steady at 4.9145%. Asian currencies showed mixed movements against the dollar, with the Philippine peso gaining 0.23% and the Taiwanese dollar losing 0.28%.

Oil prices steadied after a sharp decline, with West Texas Intermediate near $96 a barrel and Brent below $105. Gold remained above $3,950 an ounce, continuing its recent gains, while silver rose to $50.77.

Foreign institutional investors bought Indian equities worth Rs 3,114 crore for the second day in a row, whereas domestic institutional investors sold Rs 392 crore of shares for the second consecutive session.