Sensex, Nifty zoom nearly 2 pc amid rally in global stocks

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Friday spurted by nearly 2 per cent, propelled by heavy buying in IT, metal and financial stocks amid a rally in global markets after lower-than-expected US inflation data.

A strong rupee against the US dollar and unabated foreign capital inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

Easing US inflation triggered speculation that the US Federal Reserve might slow down the pace of interest rate hikes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,181.34 points or 1.95 per cent to settle at 61,795.04. During the day, it witnessed a high of 61,840.97 and a low of 61,311.02.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty rallied 321.50 points or 1.78 per cent to finish at 18,349.70.

Among Sensex stocks, HDFC emerged as the lead gainer, rising by 5.84 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, M&M, SBI, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy's, ICICI Bank and NTPC were among the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge gained 0.15 per cent and the midcap index rose 0.33 per cent.

Financial markets rallied after the US consumer price index eased to 7.4 per cent in October from 8.2 per cent in September. Markets were on tenterhooks after the US Federal Reserve indicated more interest rate tightening to fight inflation. The current US inflation data points to an early end of the interest rate hike cycle.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 7.70 per cent while the Nikkei in Tokyo surged 2.98 per cent. In Seoul, the Kospi rose 3.37 per cent. The Shanghai Composite index 1.69 rallied per cent.

Equity exchanges in Europe were also trading in the green in the afternoon session. Stock exchanges in the US ended with significant gains on Thursday.

On the macroeconomic front, Moody's on Friday slashed India's GDP growth projection to 7 per cent for 2022, saying that global slowdown and high domestic interest rates would dampen economic momentum.

The rupee appreciated 62 paise to close at 80.78 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude gained 2.37 per cent to USD 95.89 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the Indian capital market on Thursday, as they bought shares worth Rs 36.06 crore, as per exchange data.