Sensex, Nifty at fresh record high as stock market cheers US Fed rate outcome

Indian indices opened at fresh record high today (June 13). The Sensex was up 379.66 points or 0.50 per cent at 76,986.23 and Nifty was up 118.00 points or 0.51 per cent at 23,441.00. About 2123 shares advanced, 346 shares declined, and 107 shares unchanged.

On the Nifty, major gainers included Nestle, Divis Labs, HDFC Life, Shriram Finance and LTIMindtree. Top Nifty losers were HUL, Britannia, Tata Consumer and ICICI Bank.

IT stocks gain big today

IT firms, which gain a chunk of their revenue from the US, jumped 1.1% today as US consumer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in May while core prices grew at their slowest annual pace in over three years.

US Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that inflation was still too high and that rate cut expectations have been pushed out. The central bank held rates steady, as expected. Owing to this domestic-rate sensitive financials also climbed 0.6%, with HDFC Life Insurance rising about 3%.

A look at Nifty 50

The Nifty 50 has hit all-time highs thrice in four sessions this week following Lok Sabha election results and government formation which signalled policy continuity. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also raised its economic growth forecast while India’s retail inflation eased slightly in May, helped by a drop in fuel prices, although food inflation rose year-on-year.