Sensex climbs 500 pts, Nifty hits 8,000 on Fed rate decision

Mumbai :The benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 500 points and the NSE Nifty regained the 8,000-mark in early trade today as financial stocks led gains on widespread buying by investors amid a firming trend at Asian bourses after the US Fed decided to hold off on interest rates.

The 30-share barometer shot up 343.28 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 26,307.25. The gauge had gained 258.04 points in the previous session on Wednesday.

Stock exchanges remained closed yesterday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and Vedanta were major gainers that supported the index rally.

The NSE Nifty recaptured the 8,000-mark by gaining 103.60 points, or 1.31 per cent, to trade at 8,002.75.

Brokers said continued buying by retail investors, tracking a firming trend at other Asian markets following the US central bank’s decision to stand pat sent emerging market currencies and most Asian markets moving up.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.59 per cent and Shanghai Composite gained 0.40 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.39 per cent in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.39 per cent lower yesterday.

PTI