Stock Market: Sensex Rises 768 Points, Nifty Trades Above 16,900; Metals, Banks, IT Lead

Stock update: TechM was the lead gainer, up 3 per cent, followed by SBI, Tata Steel, Infosys, M&M, Bajaj twins, ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC twins, RIL, and others

New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday rebounded sharply in opening trade after Wednesday’s mayhem, tracking robust global sentiment after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 50 basis points.

At 10.15 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 768 points to 56,437, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 16,919, up 241 points.

On the BSE platform, 28 constituents are trading in the green, except Titan (0.34 per cent) and Nestle (0.69 per cent). TechM was the lead gainer, up 3 per cent, followed by SBI, Tata Steel, Infosys, M&M, Bajaj twins, ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC twins, RIL, and others.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices in the broader markets, also opened firmly in the positive territory, up to 0.9 per cent higher.

Sectrorwise, Nifty Metals, Banks, Financials, IT, and Auto were all leading, up 1-2 per cent. On the other hand, FMCG and consumer durable packs were subdued. On NSE, 14 of the 15 sector gauges were trading in the green.

The BSE benchmark plunged 1,306 points (2.29 per cent) to settle at 55,669, while the Nifty tanked 391 points (2.29 per cent) to finish at 16,677.

Indian equity markets declined sharply on Wednesday after the RBI in a surprise move hiked the benchmark lending rate to 4.40 per cent to contain inflation.

Meanwhile, markets in Hong Kong were quoting higher.

Stock exchanges in the US surged higher in the overnight trade on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve intensified its fight against the worst inflation in 40 years by raising its benchmark short-term interest rate by a half-percentage point on Wednesday.

"US equities rallied, recording the biggest one-day gain since 2020, after Federal Reserve comments suggested that the central bank is unlikely to consider a higher interest-rate hike of 75 basis points in the coming months,” Mitul Shah, head of research at Reliance Securities told the PTI.

International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.48 per cent to $110.67 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 3,288.18 crore on Wednesday.

"US markets closed higher yesterday (Wednesday) after the Fed announced interest rate hike of 50 bps. Jerome Powell said 75 bps hike is not something that the committee is actively considering. This statement led to market rally," Mohit Nigam, head - PMS, Hem Securities, told the PTI.