Indian shares advance on oil retreat; financials lead

Indian share benchmarks advanced as oil prices held near their lowest in more than two weeks on Wednesday, while lingering Middle East uncertainty kept a lid on gains.

While US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that he could “annihilate” Iran, he also said his envoys had held productive talks with Iranian mediators to end their nearly seven-month-old war.

That and Saudi Arabia’s restoration of supply through a key Red Sea pipeline kept Brent below $100 a barrel, offering relief to oil-import-dependent India and supporting domestic market sentiment.

“The recent, sustained decline in crude prices has revived risk appetite among traders,” said Sudeep Shah, head of technical and derivatives research at SBI Securities.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.5% to 23,446.80, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.4% to 74,828.25. They were up 0.44% and 0.36%, respectively, ahead of the closing auction.

“For Nifty, the zone of 23,270-23,290 will act as a crucial support, while the resistance lies in the zone of 23,580-23,600,” said Shah.

Fifteen of 16 major sectors rose. Small-caps and mid-caps added 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Heavyweight financials gained 0.6%, led by a 3.4% rise in Bajaj Finance after brokerage UBS upgraded its rating and hiked its price target on improved earnings outlook.

Banks and state-owned lenders rose 0.6% and 1.1%, after UBS said CRIF Bureau’s August early-delinquency data showed asset quality was stable-to-improving across most retail loan categories.

Metal index rose 2.4%, tracking gains in global metal prices on supply concerns and resilient demand, especially from top consumer China.

Nifty IT was the sole sectoral decliner, weighed down by demand and earnings concerns, even as AI-heavy Asian technology markets advanced.

Among individual stocks, Arvind Smartspaces jumped 6.8% after recording booking values of over 5 billion rupees ($52.22 million) in a premium Bengaluru residential project, within 30 days of its launch.