FX.co ★ Sensex Edges Up on Lower Oil Prices

India’s BSE Sensex inched up about 0.2% to 74,688 at Wednesday’s open, rebounding from the previous session’s decline as softer crude prices and broad gains across Asian markets lent support, though sustained foreign fund outflows kept sentiment in check. Oil prices eased after Saudi Arabia restored crude supplies through a key Red Sea pipeline, while expectations for a diplomatic resolution to the US-Iran conflict improved. With Brent crude hovering near $98 a barrel, traders were closely tracking bond yields and developments in US-Iran diplomacy for further cues.

Foreign investors sold 38.1 billion rupees ($398.6 million) of Indian equities on Tuesday, extending their selling spree to eight sessions over the past nine trading days. On the stock front, Arvind SmartSpaces rallied 10.8% after reporting bookings of over 5 billion rupees at its Bengaluru project, Arvind Sylva. Clean Max Enviro Energy advanced 2.9% after Macquarie initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating, while Bajaj Finance gained 2.1% following an upgrade by UBS to “neutral” from “sell.”