Sensex rises 100 points, Nifty above 11,550 as Powell sparks rate cut hopes

NEW DELHI: Domestic benchmark indices got off to a positive start, tracking firm cues from global peers, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell reinforced prospects of a US interest rate cut later this month.

Powell confirmed that the US economy is still under threat and the central bank stands ready to "act as appropriate". Following this developmen, S&P500 hit 3,000 mark in overnight trade for the first time and Asian equities traded higher in the morning. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.15 per cent.

The rupee strenghtened by 23 paise against the US dollar despite a jump in crude oil prices.


Surcharge surge continued to drive the FPIs away as they turned sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 604.94 crore on Wednesday. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 667.40 crore, data on NSE suggested.

Sensex traded in the green, up 106.35 points or 0.28 per cent at 38,663 around 9.30 am. Nifty rose 32.55 points or 0.28 per cent to 11,531 with 37 stocks in the green and 13 stocks in the red.

Among Sensex stocks, 22 climbed while eight fell.


Tata Steel was the biggest gainer, up 2.21 per cent. Vedanta, SBI, Tata Motors and Power Grid were other gainers, rising upto over two per cent.

Tech Mahindra was the worst laggard, down over 1 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and Asian Paints joined TechM on the loserboard.

BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap index gained 0.22 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively.

In the sectoral space, barring IT, Consumer Durables and Teck all sectors rose. Metal was the top gainer.