Sensex rises 260 pts, Nifty above 25,300; stock market awaits Fed outcome

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a positive note Wednesday, lifted by optimism around ongoing trade negotiations with the US and hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut. Investors are now eyeing the Fed’s policy decision later in the day, where a 25-basis-point cut is expected.

At 9:16 am, the BSE Sensex rose 212.79 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 82,593.48 after climbing as much as 260 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 advanced 66.90 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 25,306, hitting a day’s high of 25,316.35.

Among Sensex stocks, UltraTech Cement led gainers, rising 1.35 per cent to Rs 12749.  Bharat Electronics shares were up 1.09 per cent. Other gainers included Trent (up 0.75 per cent), Tata Motors (up 0.74 per cent) and Bajaj Finserv (up 0.40 per cent).

In overnight trade, Wall Street indices ended marginally lower. The S&P 500 slipped 0.13 per cent to close at 6,606.76, while the Nasdaq eased 0.06 per cent to 22,333.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.27 per cent, finishing at 45,757.90.

Earlier on Wednesday, Asian markets delivered a mixed performance. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.21 per cent to 44,995.79, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.97 per cent to 3,416.02. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.21 per cent to settle at 26,759.68.

On Tuesday, the Sensex climbed 594.95 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 82,380.69, while the Nifty50 rose 169.90 points, or 0.68 per cent, to close at 25,239.10.

Hardik Matalia, a derivative analyst at Choice Equity Broking, said benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are likely to open on a positive note on September 17, as GIFT Nifty signals a gain of around 73 points for the broader market.

“After a positive opening, Nifty can find support at 25,200 followed by 25,100 and 25,000. On the higher side, 25,300 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 25,400 and 25,500. 
The charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 55,000 followed by 54,800 and 54,500. If the index advances further, 55,300 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 55,500 and 55,800,” Matalia said.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the current rally is riding on both sentiment and fundamentals. “The market expects the renewed India–US trade talks to result in an agreement, culminating in the withdrawal of the 25 per cent penal tariffs imposed on India. If expectations translate into reality, that would be a huge sentiment positive,” he said. 

On the fundamentals, Vijayakumar pointed out that GST reform is expected to unleash a strong demand spurt led by automobiles. “Auto stocks have already rallied, discounting the expectations. White goods, particularly air conditioners, can be beneficiaries. NBFCs financing these purchases have rallied too. Some leading private banks like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are yet to participate in the rally. These stocks are fairly valued,” he added.