Indian shares rise over 1% on financials boost, Fed rate hike

BENGALURU: Indian shares extended gains to climb more than 1% on Thursday, helped by heavyweight financial stocks,...
17 Mar, 2022

BENGALURU: Indian shares extended gains to climb more than 1% on Thursday, helped by heavyweight financial stocks, as markets tracked broad-based jumps across global markets after the US Federal Reserve raised rates.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index rose 1.34% to 17,203.15 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex added 1.42% to 57,625.12 by 0347 GMT.

Wall Street climbed overnight while Asian shares rallied strong, after the Fed on Wednesday increased rates by an expected quarter point while signalling equivalent hikes at every meeting for the rest of the year.

Domestic equities have been helped this week by falling oil prices that have allayed inflation fears, progress in Russia-Ukraine talks, and more relaxations to COVID-19 curbs such as reopening of schools amid an expanded vaccination drive for children.

In Mumbai trading, the Nifty Financial Services Index added 2.06%. Non-banking financial firm HDFC Ltd and private-sector lender Axis Bank were the top percentage gainers on the Nifty 50.

Jindal Poly Films Ltd rose 6.8% after the company said it will sell a minority stake in its flagship packaging films business to Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.

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