Sensex, Nifty50 open higher as US Fed signals smaller rate hikes – TCS, Apollo Hospitals, Zomato among stocks in focus

• Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 opened on a high note on Thursday amid strong global cues.
  
• The US Fed’s indication that smaller rate hikes could start as early as December reflected in surges in stock markets around the world.
  
• The 30-stock index Sensex opened 258 higher at 63,358 while the Nifty50 opened 113 points higher at 18,872.
  
• TCS, Apollo Hospitals, Zomato and others will be amongst the stocks to watch out for on Thursday.
  

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 opened on a high note on Thursday amid strong global cues after the US Fed indicated smaller rate hikes could start as early as December. Besides, India’s GDP data for July-September were in line with expectations.

SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Indian markets, was up 0.50% ahead of the markets opening on Thursday.

“Indian markets could open higher, in line with positive Asian markets today and sharply higher US markets on Wednesday, said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC securities.

The 30-stock index Sensex opened 258 higher at 63,358 while the Nifty50 opened 113 points higher at 18,872.

On Wednesday, Sensex and Nifty50 hit lifetime highs for the third consecutive session crossing their respective psychological barriers of 63,000 and 18,750, as the market found support from strong fundamentals and foreign inflows.

In the last five trading sessions, Sensex has gained 2.57% while Nifty50 went up by 3.11%.

Rupee, too, posted a positive closing on Wednesday, gaining 34 paise over the US Dollar to close at 81.38.

“Stocks extended gains in Asia after China appeared to soften is Covid stance and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a slowdown in the pace of interest-rate hikes,” Jasani added.

US markets rally after Jerome Powell hinted at scaling back rate hikes

US markets surged sharply on Wednesday after US Fed chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank could slow down the pace of rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.2%, while the S&P 500 rallied 3.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose over 4.4%. DJIA’s rally on Wednesday has it out of the bear market zone technically, Jasani added.

Stocks to watch out for on Thursday

TCS: The IT major announced that it has bagged a deal from Rail Delivery Group to design, develop, implement and operate the UK’s rail data marketplace. The contract is for six years.

Apollo Hospitals: The company’s board has approved the issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth ₹105 crore.

Zomato: Alibaba Group Holding’s arm Alipay Singapore offloaded a 3.07% stake in the online delivery food giant for ₹1,631 crore via open market transactions on Wednesday.

Punjab National Bank: The lender hiked interest rates on loans by 5 basis points across tenors from December 1.

Stocks in F&O ban

Bharat Heavy Electricals, Delta Corp, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Punjab National Bank are stocks in F&O ban on Thursday.

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