BENGALURU, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Indian blue-chip indexes advanced on Thursday, after fresh U.S. data signalled a cooling economy, adding to optimism over the interest rate outlook, while a fall in oil prices also supported.
The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.13% to 19,836.80 points and the S&P BSE Sensex was also up 0.13% at 66,109.70, as of 9:52 a.m. IST.
Barring pharma, which eased 0.65% after a six-session rally, all the other dozen major sectors logged gains.
Bajaj Auto jumped 2.5% and was the top Nifty 50 gainer. Morgan Stanley reiterated "overweight" on the auto maker, citing robust sales and ramping up of production and distribution.
Hero MotoCorp and Eicher Motors also gained about 2% each.
The more domestically focussed small-caps shrugged off the underperformance over the Nifty 50 in the previous session, adding 0.85%, while mid-caps mirrored the benchmark.
"Though there are some stocks which have seen speculative rallies, there is still plenty of value in several segments in small- and mid-cap space," AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital, said.
The outlook for Indian markets remains positive, driven by gradual rise in retail participation and strong macroeconomic fundamentals, Prabhakar added.
Brent crude fell to near $81 per barrel after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia delayed a ministerial meeting to Nov. 30 from Nov. 26, where they were expected to discuss oil output cuts.
A fall in crude oil prices is positive for importers of the commodity like India.
Wall Street equities closed higher overnight, after a spate of economic data showed that the U.S. economy is softening due to the Fed's policy tightening, but remains resilient enough to potentially avoid a recession. Asian markets were muted on the day.
Among individual stocks, newly-listed Honasa Consumer rose about 11% after posting September quarter profit that nearly doubled year-on-year.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
