Market ends higher ahead of Fed policy; Sensex up 313 pts, Nifty closes at 25,330

The Indian benchmark indices ended higher on Wednesday amid hopes of a possible rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve later today. The BSE Sensex settled at 82,693.71, soaring by 313 points or 0.38%, while the NSE Nifty 50 closed at 2533.25, up by 0.36%. Investor sentiments were fuelled by the ongoing bilateral talks between the US and India, while riding on hopes of a possible rate cut by the Fed. 

Tata Consumer Products (TCPL) emerged as a top gainer, as the company announced a reduction in prices across most of its tea brands while pursuing the premiumisation of its tea portfolio in order to drive growth. TCPL saw a 4% jump in its share price in intraday, bringing it to Rs 1135.70. State Bank of India  (SBI) and Bharat Electronics (BEL) took the top spots as well, each rising by 3.05% and 2.21%. 

Meanwhile, HDFC Life, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were the top laggards in today’s session. HDFC Life dragged by 1.08%, whereas Bajaj Finserv and Titan declined by 0.98% and 0.95% respectively.

Amongst sectors, Nifty PSU Bank rallied by 2.61%, with Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank and SBI carrying the index forward. It was followed by Nifty Bank and Nifty IT, with the latter continuing its rally on the back of the US Federal Reserve rate cuts. Major losers among the sectoral indices were Nifty Metal and Nifty Consumer Durables, followed by Nifty FMCG. 

Jindal Steel declined by 1.95% today, which weighed on the metal index. This comes in after news of the Indian steelmaker’s bid to acquire the European steel arm of German producer ThyssenKrupp. In the FMCG index, Britannia, Marico and United Breweries led the fall, dwindling between 1.32% and 1.63%.

Indian defence stocks continued their rally for the fourth consecutive session, with the Nifty India Defence rising by 1.99% today.  Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Zen Technology, and Data Patterns led the charge of the defence index. 

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 50 snapped its winning streak, declining marginally by 0.02%. Whereas the Nifty Smallcap 50 advanced by 0.81%. India VIX has cooled off by 0.24%, settling at 10.24.