A woman walks past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, January 31, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
BENGALURU, March 17 (Reuters) – Indian shares ended the holiday-shortened week about 4% higher on Thursday, underpinned by heavyweight financials, with risk sentiment bouyed by a rally in global markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked benchmark rates.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) closed 1.84% higher at 17,287.05, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) climbed 1.84% to finish at 57,863.93. Both indexes scaled above the key 200-day moving average.Report ad
The Nifty and the Sensex posted weekly gains of 3.95% and 4.17%, respectively. The markets will be closed on Friday for a holiday.
European and broader Asian markets climbed, joining a rally in Wall Street, after the U.S. central bank increased rates by an expected quarter point while signalling equivalent hikes at every meeting for the rest of the year.
“The message from Powell and the FOMC forecasts is that the expected hikes will achieve disinflation without much slowing in growth or increase in unemployment,” said Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global Financial Services.Report ad
Lower oil prices that allayed inflation fears, progress in Russia-Ukraine talks, and further easing of COVID-19 curbs amid an expanded vaccination drive for children also lifted investor appetite this week.
In Mumbai trading, the Nifty Financial Services Index (.NIFTYFIN) added 2.77%. Non-banking financial firm HDFC Ltd (HDFC.NS) climbed 5.4% to be the top percentage gainer in the Nifty 50.
Shares of Future Group firms fell between 7.6% and 14% due to regulatory woes of the group’s flagship company – Future Retail (FRTL.NS) – regarding its proposed sale of retail assets to Reliance Industries (RELI.NS). read moreReport ad
Nxtdigital (NXTD.NS) surged 8.1% after the media and communication company approved a merger with non-banking financial company Hinduja Leyland Finance on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters.
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