Indian shares edged higher on Wednesday, driven by broad-based gains, as progress in trade talks with the United States and expectations of a rate cut by the U.S Federal Reserve later in the day buoyed investor sentiment.
The Nifty 50 rose 0.36% to 25,330.25 and the BSE Sensex added 0.38% to 82,693.71, closing at two-month high levels.
With the day’s gains, the 50-stock index has risen in ten of the last eleven sessions, and is 3.6% off its lifetime high of 26,277.35 points hit in September last year.
Eleven of the 16 major sectors logged gains on the day. The broader small-caps and mid-caps added 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively.
“Some stability has returned to the market with progress in U.S. trade talks after weeks of deadlock. We expect Nifty to rise further towards 25,800-point level in the near term,” said Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental equity research at SBICAPS Securities.
India’s Urban Company soars 74% in trading debut, hits about $3 billion valuation
After the U.S. delegation met with Indian trade officials on Tuesday, the Asian country’s commerce ministry said they had decided to “intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Trade Agreement”.
IT companies which earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S., rose 0.7% on Wednesday.
Prospects of a 25-basis-point cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve later today buoyed IT stocks, with investors also focusing on comments signalling more reductions in the remainder of the year, analysts said.
Lower U.S. interest rates make emerging markets like India attractive to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), as Treasury yields and the dollar typically decline in such a scenario.
Among individual stocks, Multi Commodity Exchange of India jumped 3.6% as the market regulator said it will engage with government to allow banks and pension funds to trade commodities.
Home services platform Urban Company surged 62% from its issue price of 103 rupees in its trading debut.
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