Markets jump in early trade after two days of fall

Equity benchmark indices rebounded nearly 1 per cent in early trade on Thursday after a two-day decline, following a rally in global markets amid the US Fed keeping rates unchanged.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 593.8 points to 64,185.13 in early trade. The Nifty climbed 179.3 points to 19,168.45.

Among the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers. Tata Steel emerged as the only laggard. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green.

The US markets ended with gains on Wednesday.

”Even though the pause decision of the Fed was on expected lines, the commentary was not hawkish as the market feared. The Fed chief Jerome Powell’s comment that ”despite elevated inflation, the longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored” was taken by the market as a slightly dovish statement.

”This statement implies that the Fed may not hike rates again in this rate hiking cycle. Consequently, the bond yields declined sharply. The benchmark 10-year bond yield declined 17 bps to 4.75 per cent, and the equity markets responded positively,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.99 per cent to USD 85.47 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,816.91 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark declined 283.60 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 63,591.33 on Wednesday. The Nifty went down by 90.45 points or 0.47 to 18,989.15.