Sensex Up 190 Points, Nifty Trades At 17,300 Amid Volatility

Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, and NTPC

The rupee hit a 20-month low and was at its lowest level since April 28, 2020. The domestic currency opened weaker at 76.28 per US dollar compared with Wednesday's close of 76.23 per dollar

New Delhi: Key domestic equity benchmark Sensex rallied nearly 500 points during early trade on Thursday, tracking a positive trend in global markets after the US monetary policy decision.
The 30-share index surged 494 points (0.86 per cent) to 58,282 in the opening trade. Similarly, the Nifty surged 122 points (0.71 per cent) to 17,343.

Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, and NTPC.
On the other hand, Maruti, Sun Pharma, HUL, and ITC were among the laggards.

However after an hour of trade, the indices failed to hold their morning gains. Both the equity benchmarks retreated. At 10.15 am, Sensex was trading at 57,983, up 190 points, while the Nifty was up 51 points at 17,272.

Last night, the US Federal Reserve said it would accelerate its pullback of economic stimulus and likely raise interest rates three times next year to tackle rising inflation.

“A hawkish Fed sending the markets higher is rare. But this happened on Wednesday in the US, since markets were positioned for a hawkish Fed, but hawkishness itself had positive market connotations,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Larger taper and three rate hikes of 25 bps each in 2022 are negative from market perspective, but the positive news is that the Fed expects inflation to cool off.
In India markets are positioned for volatility since the short-term texture of the market is sell on rally, dictated by relentless FII selling. This trend may persist for a few more days, he added.

In the previous session, the 30-share equity benchmark slumped 329 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 57,788, and Nifty fell 103.50 points or 0.60 per cent to 17,221.40.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,407.04 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong was in the red.
Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.88 per cent to $74.53 per barrel.

The rupee hit a 20-month low and was at its lowest level since April 28, 2020. The domestic currency opened weaker at 76.28 per US dollar compared with Wednesday's close of 76.23 per dollar.