Sensex, Nifty50 hit all-time high as Fed hints rate cuts
In a surprising move, the US Federal Reserve decided to keep benchmark rates steady while hinting at potential rate cuts in 2024. This unexpected decision pushed the bulls to send India's benchmark indices Nifty50 and Sensex to new all-time highs. Sensex zoomed 883 points, or 1.26%, to touch 70,468, while Nifty50 surpassed reached 21,170 levels, up 245 points or 1.17%. US market investors cheered the Fed's decision too, propelling the Dow Jones past 37,000 for the first time.
Policymakers foresee a series of rate cuts in 2024
This marks the third consecutive meeting where the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged, signaling an end to its aggressive hiking campaign. Policymakers foresee a series of rate cuts next year. They unanimously agreed to maintain the target range for the benchmark interest rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, marking its highest level since 2001. This decision also marked the first time since March 2021 that policymakers didn't foresee any further interest rate hikes, based on the median estimate.
Small-cap and mid-cap inch higher
In the broader markets, the mid-cap and small-cap indices mirrored the movements of the frontline indices. Nifty SmallCap 100 index jumped 155 points higher or 1.06% to trade at 14,812. Likewise, Nifty MidCap100 zoomed 352 points or 0.78% to trade at 45,300. The Nifty MidSmallCap 400 witnessed a leap of over 120 points or 0.77%, quoting at 15,694. Meanwhile, the combined market capitalization of all BSE-listed companies rose by Rs. 3 lakh crore to reach Rs. 354.19 lakh crore.
Most sectoral indices trading in green
Across sectors, almost all indices were making upward movements, with the Nifty IT index leading the gains with a 2.82% increase. Nifty Realty followed suit with a 2.10% gain. The Nifty Bank, Private Bank, PSU Bank, and Financial Services saw gains up to 1.4%. However, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare were the sole laggards in today's market, experiencing declines of up to 0.25%.
