The Indian equities benchmark opened on a positive note on Thursday as indicated by the SGX index. At 9:19 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 575 points or 1.09 per cent higher, whereas the NSE Nifty 50 index advanced 170.10 points or 1.08 per cent at 15,862, after the US Federal Reserve hiked the interest rate by 75 basis points, highest since 1994 in order to tame inflation.
Amongst the broader indices, Nifty Midcap 50 index surged 1.01 per cent at 7,451, whereas the Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 1.04 per cent at 27,087. All sectoral indices were trading in green with the stocks of banking, auto, IT, consumer durables, and oil and gas witnessing heavy buying in early trade.
Amongst the NSE listed companies, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, Titan and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, whereas ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, PowerGrid and Dr. Reddy were the top losers. Amongst the BSE-listed companies, Reliance Industries, Bajaj twins, Maruti, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, ITC, Titan, and Axis Bank were the top gainers whereas Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the major indices in Asia were trading higher on Thursday following overnight gains in the US stocks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.71 per cent, whereas South Korea’s KOSPI rose 1.31 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was trading lower at 0.35 per cent. While China’s Shanghai Composite was trading flat, Shenzhen Component advanced 0.83 per cent.
Notably, the major indices in the US were trading higher on Wednesday. The S&P 500 surged 54.51 points or 1.5 per cent to 3,789, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 303.70 points or 1 per cent to 30,668. The Nasdaq Composite surged 270 points or 2.5 per cent to 11,099.
Back home, the foreign institutional investors (FII) continued to remain the net sellers worth Rs 3,531 crore, whereas the domestic institutional investors (DII) remained the net buyers worth Rs 2,588 crore on Wednesday. The Indian Rupee witnessed declined 18 paise to a record low of 78.22 against US Dollars.
Crude oil prices fell over $3 in the early hours on Thursday as markets worried about a fall in demand. Brent crude futures for August fell $2.7 or 2.2%, at $118.51 per barrel, whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July fell $3.62, or 3.04%, to $115.31 per barrel.
State Bank Of India, UPL, Yes Bank, NBCC (India), Equitas Small Finance Bank, EKI Energy Services, Indian Overseas Bank, Jyothy Labs and Usha Martin are the stocks that will remain in focus on Thursday.
