Domestic markets open steady, tracking strong global cues

MUMBAI: The domestic markets opened with gains, picking up cues from strong global markets. In morning trade, the BSE Sensex went up 152 points to 62,685.94 while the broad-based Nifty rose 56 points to 18,664.20.

Investors are monitoring and anticipating US Federal Reserve's decision on policy rate change. The meeting of the US central bank started on Tuesday and with its conclusion, a decision is expected. The US central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points.

Raymond, NCC, Subex and Indian Overseas Bank were among the most active stocks in the morning trade on BSE.

Some of the laggards were Yes Bank, Fineotex Chemicals, Aegis Logistics and Colgate Palmolive on the index. Hindalco, Eicher Motor, Powergrid, Wipro and NTPC were all trading in the green on Nifty during morning trade.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai SE are trading in positive territory on Wednesday morning. In European markets, FTSE, CAC, Deutsche and Refinitiv Europe are all in the green.

In American markets, Down Jones, Nasdaq, S&P and Refinitiv US are trading with gains. On Tuesday, the key equity indices ended near the day's high with strong gains.

After opening at 18,524.40 mark, the Nifty 50 index advanced and settled above the 18,600 mark. PSU banks soared while IT shares witnessed value-buying. However, realty, consumer durables and FMCG shares declined.

S&P BSE Sensex gained 402.73 points or 0.65 per cent to 62,533.30. The Nifty50 index added 110.85 points or 0.60 per cent to 18,608.

On Tuesday, Infosys (up 1.65 per cent), TCS (up 1.44 per cent), Bajaj Finance (up 1.21 per cent) and Reliance Industries (up 0.46 per cent) pushed the indices higher. Punjab National Bank (up 3.10 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 2.13 per cent) and IDFC First Bank (up 1.86 per cent) were top sector movers.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 3.26 per cent to 12.88 on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the rupee dropped 36 paise to close at 82.87 versus the US dollar on Tuesday, due to the persistent foreign capital outflows from the markets.

The local currency opened lower at 82.63 against the greenback at the interbank foreign exchange market and witnessed a high of 82.60 and a low of 82.87. It finally settled at 82.87, down 36 paise over its previous close of 82.51.