Indian stocks extend gains after US Fed's steady monetary policy approach

MUMBAI: Indian stock indices carried on with their gains from the past session, in line with the global stocks, after the US central bank's less hawkish stance on the monetary policy front.

Earlier this week, the US Federal Reserve kept the key policy rate unchanged for the second straight time at 5.25-5.50 per cent. Fed chair Jerome Powell said that recent indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a strong pace, and well above earlier expectations.

At 9.21 a.m., benchmark Sensex and Nifty were 0.6 per cent higher than their Thursday closing. Sensex is currently around 64,450 points, nearly 2,500 points lower than its record high in July.

Of the Nifty 50 stocks, as many as 47 advanced in the early trade today, with the other three in the red. Stock specific, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Hindalco, and Adani Ports were the top five gainers, in a range of 1.4-3.6 per cent.

Also, all 13 sectoral indices were in the green on Friday, the last trading session of this week.