SENSEX up 300 points, NIFTY50 above 25,400 as IT stocks shine on Fed rate cut; Infosys, Wipro top gainers

Indian equities extended their rally for a third straight session in the opening session on Thursday, September 18, driven by IT stocks, after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points to a 4–4.25% range—a level last seen in December 2022.

The broader market also opened with gains, with both Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.16% and 0.07%, respectively.

Among sectors, Nifty IT jumped 1.49% in early trade, followed by Nifty Media (0.52%) and Nifty Realty (0.38%). Nifty Metal (-0.24%) and Nifty PSU Bank (-0.05%) were the only laggards. The IT rally was led by LTIMindtree (2.56%), Infosys (2.04%), and Wipro (1.88%).

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹1,124.54 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,293.53 crore on a net basis.

Globally, Asian markets were trading mixed, with Japan hitting a new record high after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates and signalled the possibility of further reductions.

Japan's Nikkei was up 1.35%, South Korea's KOSPI rose 1.13%, and the Shanghai Composite also gained 0.45%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading lower by 0.21%.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 slipped in volatile Wednesday trade, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260.42 points, or 0.57%, to close at 46,018.32. The S&P 500 eased 6.41 points, or 0.10%, to 6,600.35, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 72.63 points, or 0.32%, to 22,261.33.

As many as 2,617 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,649 advanced, 870 declined, and 98 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth was favourable towards advances.

Meanwhile, 44 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while only 7 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 40 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 16 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 10.03 levels, down 2.14%.

Infosys was the top contributor, jumping 2.02%, followed by Wipro (2.01%), HDFC Bank (1.21%), HCL Technologies (1.17%) and Tech Mahindra (1.14%).

On the other hand, Hindalco Industries (-1.27%), Bajaj Finance (-1.19%), Apollo Hospitals (-10.61%), Tata Steel (-0.50%) and Bajaj Finserv (-0.38%) were the top losing stocks in the 50-share index.