Indian shares rose over 1 per cent on Thursday to post their second straight day of gains as energy and mining stocks were boosted by a rise in crude oil prices, even as European shares faltered after poor corporate results.
Asian stocks also rose across the board as crude oil steadied on hopes that big producers will cap output.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 267.35 points or 1.14 per cent at 23,649.22 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended up by 83.3 points or 1.17 per cent at 7,191.75.
Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index gained the most by 1.94 per cent, followed by TECk 1.9 per cent, healthcare 1.78 per cent and capital goods 1.59 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Dr Reddy's (+4.52%), ONGC (+4.5%), Hero MotoCorp (+3.85%), ICICI Bank (+2.83%) and Lupin (+2.68%), while the major losers were Maruti (-2.53%), Asian Paints (-2.09%), BHEL (-1.84%), Axis Bank (-1.39%) and Reliance (-1.19%).
Fed minutes
Minutes from the US Federal Reserve showed policymakers were divided over how to interpret the financial market volatility, suggesting it was backing away from the four rate hikes that were signaled for this year in December.
Foreign investors sold $115.42 million (7.91 billion rupees) of shares on February 16, taking this year's outflow to $2.43 billion.
"Any kind of move on the global side wherein the Fed comforts the market further, will have a positive rub-off on our market," said Pankaj Pandey, head of research at brokerage ICICI Direct.
"Liquidity globally is under stress at this time, and what we have seen is that typically when crude is making new lows, outflows sort of pick up."
A report by SMC Global said: "Asian stocks rose, resuming this week's rally after oil rebounded and US equities extended gains for a third day. US stocks closed more than 1.5 per cent higher on Wednesday for their largest three-day gain since late August, helped by some recovery in oil prices and encouraging economic data. Consumer prices in China were up 1.8 per cent on year in January. That was slightly beneath expectations for 1.9 per cent and up from 1.6 per cent in December. Food inflation spiked 4.1 per cent on year in January, the bureau said, while non-food inflation added just 1.2 per cent. Producer prices were down an annual 5.3 per cent versus forecasts for a decline of 5.4 per cent after tumbling 5.9 per cent a month earlier."
Oil crude futures rose in Asian trade on Thursday after Iran welcomed plans by Russia and Saudi Arabia to cap the crude oil production at January levels, extending steep gains in the previous session.
European equities edged lower in early trading on Thursday after climbing to a two-week high earlier in the session, with some disappointing company results putting pressure on the market.
Among other Asian markets , Japan’s Nikkei climbed 2.47 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was trading higher by 2.04 per cent in early trade. Shanghai’s Composite index was up 0.23 per cent.
US stocks had tallied their third straight session of gains on Wednesday, led by energy shares as oil prices jumped, while better-than-expected economic data helped allay growth fears.