26.08.202604:42:29UTC+00Sensex Rises as Oil Prices Fall

India’s BSE Sensex rose about 0.4% at the open to 77,977 on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session. The advance was supported by a decline in crude oil prices, which helped ease worries about inflation and pressure on corporate profit margins, while optimism over a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz further buoyed sentiment. Brent crude slid roughly 2.7% to around $86.20 per barrel.

Nonetheless, investors remained cautious amid global uncertainty. Markets were closely tracking US technology shares ahead of Nvidia’s earnings release, as well as movements in global bond yields. On the domestic front, participants are assessing signs of a moderation in India’s economic momentum, with Q2 GDP data due next week and growth expected to slow to 7.1% from 7.8% in Q1.

Markets are also parsing signals from the Reserve Bank of India, after recent monetary policy communications and meeting minutes prompted fresh questions about the central bank’s policy stance. Among notable gainers were Hindustan Copper (up 2.8%), Netweb (2.0%), Hindustan Zinc (4.2%), Cyient (6.9%), and BSE Ltd (1.6%).