Opening Bell: Nifty above 17,200, Sensex gains over 800 points after US Fed rate hike; all sectors in green

The Indian markets opened positive in line with the trends on SGX Nifty amid positive global cues on the last trading day of the week on Thursday. The domestic equity market (NSE and BSE) will remain closed tomorrow on account of Holi.  

Extending gains for the second consecutive day, benchmarks rose nearly % in the opening, tracking their Asian peers, and on back of expected outcome of the US Fed meeting. The broader Nifty50 surpassed 17,000 a it gained 1.33 % to open above 17,200, while the Sensex added more than 800 points to start above 57,600.  

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All sectors sat in the green with Nifty realty, consumer durables and bank gaining the most.

In the pre-open, the Sensex gained over 700 points to trade above 57,500 as all stocks turned green.  

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the US Fed raising rates by 25 bp was on lines of market expectations. "Fed's projections of another six hikes this year is hawkish and, therefore, the smart rally in markets with S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting 2.24% and 3.7% upmoves respectively was a bit unexpected. The explanation is that the market was oversold and the consequent short covering pushed indices higher. The market drew confidence from the Fed chief Powel's statement that the American economy is very strong and well positioned to handle tighter monetary policy," said Vijaykumar

Short-covering in India, too, will lift markets today, he said. "FPIs turning buyers after a long time and softness in crude will support the market. There is upward potential in financials, particularly in high quality private banks in which FPIs were sustained sellers,"he added.

Fears of exhaustion setting in, after seeing the first objective of17300, need not be acted upon, as momentum makes it play, said Anand James - Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services."Dips early in the day are likely to be short lived, and mean reversion fears may not gain prominence until above 17500. Alternatively, downsides will have the chance to dominate if17260 fails to attract bargain hunting," he said. 

Earlier, Asian markets were off to a good start on Thursday as major indices traded in the green, joining a rally on Wall Street overnight as potential risks from Federal Reserve monetary tightening to the Ukraine war and a slowdown in China became less murky. Japanese Nikkei 225 was up nearly 3%, Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Exchange was trading higher by 4.5% and Chinese Shanghai Composite was up 1.6% around 8.15 am on Thursday.  

On Wall Street on Wednesday, the Dow, benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed higher after choppy trading after the Fed announced a quarter percentage point increase in the overnight federal funds rate, lifting that key benchmark from its near-zero level. The gains were driven by stocks in the technology, financial and consumer discretionary sectors. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.55% to 34,063.1, the S&P 500 gained 2.24% to 4,357.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.77% to 13,436.55. 

(Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/advice expressed here in this article are solely by investment experts. Zee Business suggests its readers to consult with their investment advisers before making any financial decision.)