Sensex, Nifty Close On Buoyant Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares, led by information technology stocks, rallied sharply on Wednesday amid optimism the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by March next year.

Remarks from Fed Governor Christopher Waller that the central bank might cut rate as early as March 24 if inflation continues to decline appear to have lifted sentiment.

"Inflation rates are moving along pretty much like I thought," Fed Governor Christopher Waller, a hawkish and influential voice at the central bank, told the American Enterprise Institute think tank on Tuesday.

Apart from technology stocks, several shares from automobile, banking, healthcare and oil sectors moved higher.

The BSE benchmark Sensex ended with a gain of 727.71 points or 1.1% at 66,901.91, while the broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange, which moved past the 20k mark for the first time in about seven months, settled with a gain of 206.90 points or 1.04% at 20,096.60.

Axis Bank rallied nearly 4%. Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 3.4%. Wipro, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Kotak Bank gained 1 to 2.3%.

Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, State Bank of India and Tata Steel posted moderate gains.

Hero Motocorp rallied 3.2%. MindTree, Britannia Industries, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, UPL, BPCL and Bharti Airtel ended notably higher.

Adani Enterprises, ONGC, Divi's Laboratories, Nestle, Eicher Motors and Titan closed weak.

Zomato shares climbed about 3.5% after over 300 million shares of the company changed hands through a block deal this morning.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) shares made a strong debut this morning. The stock listed at a premium of about 56.25%, debuting at Rs 50. The company had allotted the shares at Rs 32 per share.

The market breadth was slightly positive. On BSE, 1,916 stocks moved higher. 1,786 stocks drifted lower, and 139 stocks ended flat.