India’s benchmark equity indices closed at a six-month high on Wednesday ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee’s interest rate decision on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex crossed the 63,000-level to close 350 points up, or 0.56 per cent higher, at 63,142.96, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 127 points, or 0.68 per cent, to end at 18,726.40.

Broader markets continued to outperform with Nifty Mid Cap and Nifty Small Cap higher by 1 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. All sectoral indices ended in green. Nifty Realty (+1.6 per cent ), Nifty Metal (+1.5 per cent) and Nifty FMCG (+1.1 per cent) were the major gainers.

Riches Vanara, Technical And Derivatives Analyst, stoxbox said, “On account of tomorrow’s MPC meeting outcome, market participants are positive that there will be no interest rate hikes. Markets seem to have factored in the same, which boosted all major NSE and BSE indices. Nifty touched the 18,700-mark for the first time in 2023.“

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Britannia Industries led the FMCG pack today along with other stocks such as Tata Consumer. The positive momentum in the market was also seen in Axis Bank, which was able to cross the ₹3-lakh crore market capitalisation. Telecom sector stocks were in the green on market reaction to the Indian Cabinet’s approval of ₹89,050 crore for BSNL.

Bull run

On the technical front, Nifty opened gapping up 50 points from the previous closing and dithered in a narrow trading range in the first half and there after witnessed a fast rally towards the day high and closed on a positive note. “The price action for the day showed some strength from the bulls and the index finally managed to get above 18,700-18,720 levels. With that, it is successfully closing above the previous consolidation area of 18,650 to 18,450, which is a positive sign for bulls,” Vanara said.

Meanwhile, investors looked for further signs that the Federal Reserve will resist raising rates next week, after data from the US Department of Labour last Friday showed wage growth had moderated last month.

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