Sensex gains 500 points, Nifty crosses 15,800 after Fed hikes rate

Mumbai: The Indian stock market soared higher on Thursday morning with the Sensex gaining over 500 points and the Nifty climbing around 150 points, amid positive global cues.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex rose by 548.17 points or 1.04 per cent to close at 53,089.56 points at 9.20 am.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was up by 153.90 points or 0.98 per cent to 15,846.10 points.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance, Bajaj Finance, BPCL, Baja Finserv and ICICI Bank were the major gainers in the early trade, while ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Nestle, Dr Reddys Labs and SBI Life Insura were the top losers.

On Wednesday, the key indices closed in the red for the fourth straight session dragged by heavy selling pressure in energy and IT stocks.

This is the fourth consecutive session of loss in the benchmark index. The Sensex had lost 153.13 points or 0.29 per cent on Tuesday. The Sensex had lost 1456.74 points or 2.68 per cent on Monday and 1016.84 points or 1.84 per cent in the previous session.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday (local time) raised interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) or three-quarters of a percentage point in the boldest move since 1994.

It’s the largest rate hike since 1994 and will affect millions of American businesses and households, pushing up the cost of borrowing for homes, cars and other loans in order to force a slowdown in the economy, reported CNN.

The American economy, like others in the world, is facing high inflation and the pace is hitting a 40-year high. In an aggressive move to tackle white-hot inflation that is plaguing the economy, frustrating consumers and stifling the Biden administration, the interest rates have been raised.

Until this week, economists and investors had expected the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate by half a point, the second such move in the last 22 years.

The US stock market rallied after the announcement, with the Dow up more than 500 points as investors interpreted the central bank’s actions as a solid commitment to bringing down inflation, reported CNN.