Sensex up 300 points, Nifty up 100 in opening trade, oil and gas stocks lead charge

The stock market opened into the green for the second consecutive time as the trading session began on Thursday, March 6, with oil and gas, media, and mid and small cap IT and telecom stocks rising the most.

At 9:20 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 302.18 points or 0.41 per cent, reaching 74,032.41. The broader NSE Nifty opened 99.05 points up or 0.44 per cent in the green, reaching 22,436.35.

Which stocks rose the most?

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Reliance Industries rose the most upon open by 2.03 per cent, trading at ₹1,199.65. This was followed by Asian Paints, which was up 1.86 per cent, trading at ₹2,205.55, and Tata Steel, which was up by 1.71 per cent, trading at ₹148.65.

Only 5 of the Sensex stocks were in the red.

How did individual sectors perform?

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, the Nifty Oil & Gas Index rose the most by 1.93 per cent, reaching 9,981.60. This was followed by Nifty Media, which was up 1.87 per cent, reaching 1,475.15, and Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom, which was up 1.24 per cent, reaching 9,188.35.

The Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom Index had risen the most by 1.99 per cent yesterday, followed by Nifty Oil & Gas which was up 1.16 per cent, reaching 9,687.95.

The Oil & Gas index rose for the second consecutive day, but unlike yesterday, global oil prices rose today. The benchmark Brent Crude was up 0.58% or by $0.40 for May 2025 contracts, trading at $69.70 per barrel, while WTI Crude was up 0.57% or by $0.38 for April 2025 contracts, reaching $66.69 per barrel.

How did the stock market close during the previous session?

The stock market rallied towards the end and closed in the green after the previous trading session ended on Wednesday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed 740.30 points or 1.01 per cent in the green, reaching 73,730.23. The broader NSE Nifty was up by 254.65 points or 1.15% in the red, reaching 22,337.30.

“The Nifty finally ended its worst-ever streak of 10 days down straight, by climbing 1.2% yesterday,” said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities. “That the recovery came from the upper-end of a key support zone is encouraging, with the fact that the broader NSE500, smallcaps and midcaps have outperformed the nifty over the last three sessions or so is even more so.”

“Yesterday’s rally means support has moved higher into the 22,100 – 22,187 area, which means the odds of heading into the 22,410 – 22,720 resistance zone are higher,” he added. “A daily close that ends above 22,508 will be a tactical shot-in-the arm for bulls.”

Among the Sensex stocks, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone rose the most by 5.02 per cent, closing at ₹1,112.55. This was followed by Tata Steel, which was up 4.92 per cent, closing at ₹146.15, and Power Grid Corporation of India, which was up 4.27%, closing at ₹264.90.

Only 5 out of the 30 Sensex stocks were in the red.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, the Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom Index rose the most by 4.43 per cent, reaching 9,075.75. This was followed by the Nifty Metal, which was up 4.04%, reaching 8,685.20, and the Nifty Media Index, which was up 3.14%, reaching 1,448.10.

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading ₹2,895.04 crore worth of equities, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers, buying a difference of ₹3,370.60 crore.