Sensex settles at 1041.47 Pts, Nifty IT shines

Indian equity benchmark indices jumped on Thursday, mirroring an overnight rally on Wall Street and strong Asian cues, following the US Fed's 75 basis point rate hike, which was in line with the Street's expectations.

Weakness in the US dollar supported the Indian rupee's upward movement in the day, as the domestic currency appreciated 14 paise against the greenback in early trade, attracting foreign equity inflows.

Further, Fed Chair Powell's comments on rejecting any speculations of the US economy being in recession, and indications of a likely slowdown in the interest rate hike pace at some point towards the year-end contributed to the domestic market's rally in the day.

At the time of writing, headline indices Nifty50 jumped 1.67% and Sensex zoomed 1,000.1 points or 1.8%, while investors on Dalal Street gained Rs 2.8 lakh crore to their wealth.

Both indices touched their highest levels since May 5, meaning almost 3 months.

"Hopes for a slower pace of rate hikes pushed DXY and bond yields lower, credit spreads tighter and global equities higher. For USD/INR, 79.60 acts as support while 79.95 a resistance," stated Kunal Sodhani, AVP, Global Trading Center, Shinhan Bank India.

All sectoral indices listed under the Nifty basket, except Nifty Pharma, traded in the green, led by Nifty IT, rallying 2.7%. Nifty Bank was up 1.54%, while Nifty Pharma was trading flat.