Indian shares advance on bargain buying after recent slide

Indian shares edged higher on Monday, aided by bargain-buying following recent losses, while elevated crude prices and heightened primary market activity limited the gains.

India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.29% to 23,414.30 and the BSE Sensex added 0.76% to 74,858.99. They were up 0.35% and 0.81% ahead of the closing auction.

Nifty and Sensex have fallen for six straight weeks, their longest losing streak in six years.

US President Donald Trump warned Tehran of economic collapse or leadership change unless it reaches a deal, while Iran’s military vowed a harsh response to any new attack.

Still, oil prices fell to their lowest in 11 days as investors bet this week’s UN meeting could yield diplomatic progress, while a partial recovery in Saudi shipments offset supply concerns from continued Houthi attacks.

“Lower crude prices, Moody’s revised domestic growth forecast and the recent market slide are drawing buyers into heavyweight stocks, boosting benchmarks,” said Aishvarya Dadheech, founder and chief investment officer at Fident Asset Management.

“However, lingering Middle East uncertainty and tighter global monetary policy will ensure that caution prevails in the near term,” said Dadheech.

The National Stock Exchange of India’s $2.3 billion IPO closes later on Monday after being fully subscribed on Friday.

Twelve of the 16 major sectors advanced. The broader small-caps and mid-caps fell 0.1% and 0.3%.

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank rose about 1.2% and 0.5%, while Reliance Industries added 1.7%. All three carry large weights on the benchmarks.

Among stocks, Welspun Corp gained 3.9% after its unit, East Pipes Integrated Company, won an order from Saudi Aramco worth about $209 million.

Logistics firm Leap India rose 3.9% after UBS started coverage with “buy,” terming it a play on modernization of the country’s supply chain.

Indian Hotels rose 1.7% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to “overweight” from “equal-weight”, citing a resilient earnings outlook.