Sensex, Nifty: 5 reasons why stock market is rising today; here are top gainers

A strong rally in US stocks overnight, following data showing a lower-than-expected rise in US core CPI inflation, sent Asian markets rising on Thursday. Dollar and US bond yields have eased a bit in recent days. The Trump trade might have peaked, said analysts.

Add to that fading geopolitical tensions after the Gaza ceasefire deal was agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, lifted investor sentiment. There are hopes that FPI outflows will ease. Investors were also keeping high hopes from quarterly earnings of heavyweights Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd scheduled for later in the day.

The BSE Sensex was up 303.38 points, or 0.40 per cent, at 77,027.46. Nifty stood at 23,320.90, up 107.70 points or 0.46 per cent. Adani Ports led the Sensex gainers, rising 3.21 per cent to Rs 1,164.35. IndusInd Bank climbed 2.56 per cent to Rs 986.55. Zomato Ltd, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors and NTPC Ltd gained 1-2 per cent.

"A relief rally in India is certainly on the cards, but the sustainability of the rally will depend on the Indian macros, particularly the revival of GDP and earnings growth. Budget expectations can aid a rally in the market but it will soon give way to the trends in GDP and earnings growth," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Vijayakumar said macro indicators from the US suggest that as the swearing-in of Trump nears, the Trump trade has peaked.

"The decline in US bond yields and the dollar index are indications of this. This downshift in the dollar index and bond yields has been assisted by the lower-than-expected CPI inflation in the US, again igniting hopes of more rate cuts by the Fed this year. Hope of an end to the conflict in Gaza is another major relief. This global backdrop is positive for the market.

HDFC Life soared 10.37 per cent to Rs 656.90. Analysts said the growth for HDFC Life slowed but margins bounced back in Q3. "Given slower growth in individual APE of just 11.9 per cent YoY, we are tweaking FY25E/26E/27E VNB down by 0.4 per cent/0.5 per cent/1.5 per cent. This along with a valuation rollover to FY27E increases our target price to Rs 850 from Rs 830," said Nuvama.

L&T Technology Services Ltd advanced 8 per cent to Rs 5,248.10. The IT major expects the deal momentum to remain
strong in 2025.

Reliance Industries edged 0.16 per cent higher at Rs 1,254.35. Analysts believe a strong telecom earnings growth would be offset by weakness in energy and muted retail growth. On sequential basis, the RIL performance is likely to be better, analysts said.

Infosys added 0.11 per cent to Rs 1,952. IT major Infosys Ltd is expected to report 5-13 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit for the December quarter compared with 5-6 per cent rise in sales. Margin is seen expanding 30-90 basis points YoY. A few analysts believe Infosys could upgrade FY25 revenue growth guidance to 4.25–4.75 per cent in constant currency (CC) YoY from 3.75-4.5 per cent. They largely see margin guidance to be maintained at 20–22 per cent.