FIRST TRADE: Nifty crosses 22,000 mark, Sensex rises nearly 600 pts as Fed sends positive signals to global markets

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty made a strong start to the day on Thursday, March 21, amid positive signals from global markets after the Fed maintained an earlier projection of three cuts in key interest rates this year. The Sensex jumped as much as 595.4 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 72,697.1 within the first few minutes of trade, while the Nifty50 climbed to as high as 22,042, up 202.9 points, or 0.9 per cent, from its previous close. 

Both indices were up about 0.7 per cent at the last count, with the Sensex trading with a gain of 524.5 points at 72,626.2 and the 50-scrip at 22,000.3, up 161.2 points for the day.

"The uncertainty regarding the Fed decision is over with the Fed keeping the rates unchanged and refraining from a hawkish message. The Fed chief’s statement that “inflation has eased substantially while the labour market has remained strong” conveys conviction about the soft landing of the US economy and the possibility of probably three rate cuts this year. The response from the market was the US indices racing to record highs. This favourable global construct will have a positive impact on Indian markets too," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 

Vijayakumar also said that a tug-of-war between FIIs and DIIs has been won by the DIIs for some time now. This trend will continue if the FIIs continue to sell, and, therefore, FIIs are likely to slow down their selling and may turn buyers. This will be positive for large-caps in banking, telecom, capital goods, and automobiles," Nair added. 

Meanwhile, broader indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 rose more than one per cent each.

The Nifty Bank index was up 0.9 per cent at 46,718.2. 

BUZZING STOCKS

Wockhardt shares were up over 2 per cent after the drug maker launched a qualified institutional placement (QIP). 

RVNL shares were up over 2 per cent after the company was declared the L1 bidder for a SER HQ-Electrical/South Eastern Railway project worth Rs 167.3 crore.

Aarti Drugs shares were up over 2 per cent after the Gujarat Pollution Control Board withdrew an order to close its Sarigam plant.

Bharat Dynamics shares were up nearly 3 per cent as its board was scheduled to meet on Thursday to consider proposals for a dividend and a share split. 

Avenue Supermart shares were up over 2 per cent after CLSA initiated coverage on the stock with a 'buy' rating.

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Asian shares bounced while gold prices and Japan's Nikkei jumped to record highs on Thursday after the Fed indicated it would stick with plans for cutting interest rates this year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 2.0 per cent at the last count, while Japan's Nikkei 225 went up 1.5 per cent. 

With inputs from agencies

Catch the latest stock market updates here. For all other news related to business, politics, tech and auto, visit Zeebiz.com.