Metal, power stock surge lifts markets

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex jumped 539 points while Nifty closed above 22,000 level on Thursday following buying in metal, power and energy shares and a rally in global markets after the US Fed projected three rate cuts this year. Rising for the second day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 539.50 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 72,641.19. During the day, it zoomed 780.77 points or 1.08 per cent to 72,882.46. The NSE Nifty climbed 172.85 points or 0.79 per cent to 22,011.95.

From the Sensex basket, NTPC, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro were the biggest gainers. Bharti Airtel, Maruti, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled significantly higher while Shanghai ended lower. European markets were trading in positive territory. Wall Street ended with remarkable gains on Wednesday. The S&P 500 jumped to an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite also hit record-high levels.

“Domestic market is taking cues from the global market infusing optimism as the Federal Reserve signalled to remain on track for three interest rate cuts this year despite inflation staying above long-term target,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Markets surged strongly and gained nearly a per cent, tracking favourable global cues, Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd said. “Nifty tested the immediate hurdle of short-term moving average i.e. 20 EMA today but it couldn’t surpass it. We may see some consolidation now and need sustainability above 22,200 to mark any meaningful recovery,” Mishra added.

Global benchmarks were mostly higher on Thursday after US stocks rallied to record highs following indications from the Federal Reserve that it expects to deliver interest rate cuts later this year and maintained its projections for three interest rate cuts this year, providing room for the regional central banks to begin considering monetary easing, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 2.36 per cent and the smallcap index jumped 2.01 per cent. All indices ended in the green, where power advanced 3.06 per cent, realty zoomed 2.96 per cent, industrials (2.81 per cent), capital goods (2.77 per cent), metal (2.73 per cent), services (1.99 per cent), commodities (1.98 per cent) and consumer discretionary (1.67 per cent). A total of 2,758 stocks advanced while 1,061 declined and 107 remained unchanged.