The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday extended their leads taking strong global cues. At 9.45 am, the BSE Sensex climbed 380 points to 64,460. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,251, up 118 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, TechM, ICICI Bank, Titan, Sun Pharma, Infosys, M&M emerged lead gainers. Stock of Tata Motors rallied 3 per cent on the back of strong Q2 earnings. On the downside, NTPC, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Airtel, UltraCemco were among losers.
In the broader markets, both BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up around 0.5 per cent each.
Sectorally, all the indices are trading in the green following positive sentiment in the market. Information technology, metals, and pharma are among the top performers.
In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 490 points up at 64,081, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,133, up 144 points.
“The Fed decision to hold rates and refrain from making hawkish indications has emboldened the bulls to make a strong comeback in the mother market US with S&P rising 1.9 per cent yesterday,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
The US market ended with solid gains on investor optimism that Us Fed may be done with hiking rates, and a sharp drop in 10-year Treasury yields to 4.67 per cent, its 3-week low.
In the Asian market, Hang Seng, Nikkei, and Kospi were up over 1 per cent each. Straits Times rallied 1.6 per cent, while Taiwan added 0.3 per cent.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.14 per cent to $86.97 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to be net sellers in the capital markets as they offloaded equities worth Rs 1,261.19 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Indian rupee depreciated 4 paise to 83.26 against the US dollar in the morning session on Friday, tracking a strong American currency overseas and sustained foreign fund outflows. Forex traders said a positive trend in domestic equities supported the local unit at lower levels and restricted the downside.
At the interbank forex exchange, the rupee opened at 83.22 then touched 83.26 against the American currency, registering a decline of 4 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 83.22 against the US dollar.