Indian Shares Rebound On Slide In Oil Prices, Dec F&O Series Expiry

Indian shares swung to gains in the final hour on Thursday, on slide in oil prices due to demand concerns in China, while volatility was high in domestic market with the expiration of the December derivatives series.

The Nifty 50 index closed 0.38% higher at 18,191, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.37% to 61,133.88. The benchmarks had fallen over 0.7% during the session.

Most of the major sectoral indexes reversed losses, with oil and gas stocks and metals rising over 1%. Sectoral heavyweight financials added over 0.5%.

Thirty-three of the Nifty 50 constituents advanced, with Bharti Airtel , State Bank of India , Eicher Motors , Tata Steel and Axis Bank rising over 1.5%.

The turnaround in the domestic market came after crude prices fell over 2%, pressured by demand concerns in China.

The decline in crude prices could help the domestic market continue outperforming global peers, said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.

The fall in prices is a positive for oil-importing countries like India, as crude constitutes the bulk of the country's import bill.

Meanwhile, traders settled their futures and options (F&O) contracts as the December derivatives series, the last one of 2022, expired today.

"Investors covered their (short) positions on the last day of the December monthly expiry, fuelling an upsurge in metals, banking stocks and oil and gas shares," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research (retail) at Kotak Securities.

Analysts expect the volumes in domestic market to be thin till next week, with the earnings season for the December-quarter being the next major trigger.