The Indian stock market closed Thursday’s trade on 17 September with modest gains, as traders shrugged off the US Federal Reserve’s rate hike, which had been largely priced in.
While equities held on to their gains, the Indian rupee extended its losses to multi-week lows amid growing concerns that overseas investors could accelerate selling following the Fed’s move.
Although the key benchmark indices remained higher for the second consecutive session, they were still below Tuesday’s highs. For the week, both indices are down more than 0.40%. If they close the week lower, it would mark their sixth consecutive week of losses.
Indian stock market today
The Nifty 50 wrapped up the session at 23,270, up 0.23% from the previous close, while the Sensex gained 0.10% to 74,413. The broader market, however, outperformed the frontline indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index surging 1% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rallying 0.76%.
Most sectors closed in the green, led by pharma, realty, media, auto, metals, and chemicals. On the other hand, banks were the only major sector to lag.
The gains in Indian equities came a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point, bringing the federal funds rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%. Policymakers also pencilled in an additional rate hike later this year.
The decision was widely anticipated by markets amid growing inflationary risks, robust economic activity, and a stable labor market. Policymakers also saw little evidence that inflation was on track to return to the Fed’s 2% target, with 16 Fed officials projecting another rate hike this year.
Meanwhile, in the commodity market, crude oil extended its decline for the second consecutive day following reports that Saudi Arabia plans to restore roughly half the capacity of its East-West pipeline within days and bring it back to full operation within six weeks.
