New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): Indian stock indices extended their gains for the third consecutive session on Friday, supported by the latest slump in global crude oil prices on concerns of a potential recession in various economies.

Barring Nifty metal, PSU Bank, and realty, the rest of the 12 sectoral indices were in the green, National Stock Exchange data showed.

At 9.55 a.m., Sensex was at 54,478.05 points, up 295.50 points, or 0.55 per cent, whereas Nifty was at 16,210.30 points, up 77.40 points or 0.48 per cent.

Among the individual stocks, LT, Coal India, Axis Bank, Grasim Industries, and Ultratech Cement were the top five gainers among the Nifty 50 companies, while Tata Steel, Maruti, JSW Steel, Asian Paints, and Eicher Motors were the top five losers.

“The present rally is driven partly by expectations that given the steady decline in commodity prices inflation will start showing a declining trend enabling central banks to go a bit slow on hiking rates, and partly by short-covering,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

“It is quite probable that central banks may not tighten policy as much as the market feared earlier. If emerging data indicates the possibility of a soft landing for the US economy, the rally may gather momentum. Therefore, commodity prices have to be closely watched,” Vijayakumar added.

Stocks in Asian markets caught a modest tailwind on Friday from a US rally, sparked by hopes that policymakers can get inflation under control without causing a global economic downturn, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC securities. (ANI)