Key indices rebound after US Fed's hawkish stance

Despite US Fed signalling an end to its pandemic-induced easy monetary policy amid inflation concerns, Wall Street moved higher; Infosys, RIL and Bajaj Finance support indices;

- BSE Sensex advanced 113.11 pts to 57,901.14

- NSE Nifty rose 27 pts to 17,248.40

- IT stocks in focus

- Continuous selling by FIIs keeps pressure on gains

- Fed chair decides to double pace of asset tapering by early 2022

- Bajaj Finance led the Sensex

- Infosys, Titan, RIL , HCL Tech, M&M and Nestle India moved up

- Maruti, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and SBI decline

Mumbai: Equity indices eked out modest gains on Thursday after a four-session losing streak, in tandem with an upmove in global markets despite a hawkish tilt by the US Federal Reserve.

A rebounding rupee also bolstered sentiment, though unabated selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) capped the upside, traders said. After a choppy session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 113.11 points or 0.20 per cent higher at 57,901.14. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty inched up 27 points or 0.16 per cent to 17,248.40.

Global markets followed Wall Street higher even as the Fed signalled an end to its pandemic-induced easy monetary policy amid inflation concerns. The Fed said it will accelerate the tapering of its monthly bond buying from January itself, to be followed by rate hikes.

Bajaj Finance led the Sensex gainers' chart with a jump of 2.61 per cent, followed by Infosys, Titan, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, M&M and Nestle India. In contrast, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and SBI were among the laggards, slipping up to 1.51 per cent.

"Domestic bourses closed flat with a mild positive bias despite an upbeat economic outlook by the US Fed. Domestic weakness was due to FII selling and moderation in retail activity. The Fed chair announced their decision to double the pace of asset tapering by early 2022 rather than a mid-2022 paving way for three interest rate hikes, backed by a rapidly strengthening economy and employment gains amid inflation concerns," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.