Sensex, Nifty zoom nearly 2% amid rally in global stocks

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Friday spurted by nearly 2%, propelled by heavy buying in IT, metal and financial stocks amid a rally in global markets after lower-than-expected U.S. inflation data.

A strong rupee against the U.S. dollar and unabated foreign capital inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

Easing U.S. inflation triggered speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might slow down the pace of interest rate hikes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,181.34 points or 1.95% to settle at 61,795.04. During the day, it witnessed a high of 61,840.97 and a low of 61,311.02.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty rallied 321.50 points or 1.78% to finish at 18,349.70.

Among Sensex stocks, HDFC emerged as the lead gainer, rising by 5.84%, followed by HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, M&M, SBI, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy’s, ICICI Bank and NTPC were among the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge gained 0.15% and the midcap index rose 0.33%.

Financial markets rallied after the U.S. consumer price index eased to 7.4% in October from 8.2% in September. Markets were on tenterhooks after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated more interest rate tightening to fight inflation. The current U.S. inflation data points to an early end of the interest rate hike cycle.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 7.70% while the Nikkei in Tokyo surged 2.98%. In Seoul, the Kospi rose 3.37%. The Shanghai Composite index rallied 1.69%.

Equity exchanges in Europe were also trading in the green in the afternoon session. Stock exchanges in the U.S. ended with significant gains on Thursday.

On the macroeconomic front, Moody’s on Friday slashed India’s GDP growth projection to 7% for 2022, saying that global slowdown and high domestic interest rates would dampen economic momentum.

The rupee appreciated 62 paise to close at 80.78 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude gained 2.37% to $95.89 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the Indian capital market on Thursday, as they bought shares worth ₹36.06 crore, as per exchange data.