Mumbai / Nifty, Sensex recover some lost ground, metals lead gains

Indian shares rose on Thursday, driven by gains in metals and financials, and tracking strength in broader Asia as dovish comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell rekindled rate-cut hopes.

Buying was broad-based, with 42 of the 50 stocks in the broader Nifty trading in the green, while only 7 stocks in the benchmark Sensex traded in the negative territory.

The markets are driven by the Fed projecting that they are going to cut rates, so global liquidity finds its way into emerging markets, said Sunil Sharma, chief investment officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.

The NSE Nifty was 0.42% higher at 11,546.55 as 0430 GMT, while the BSE Sensex was up 0.38% at 38,706.96.

Indian shares took a beating after the federal budget on Friday as investors were disappointed over some of the budget proposals, including the mandatory public float requirement and a higher surcharge on the rich.

Asian shares rose with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticking up 0.8% after Powell reinforced prospects of a U.S. interest rate cut later this month.

The Indian rupee strengthened to 68.310 per dollar from its 68.57 close on Wednesday.

The metal index climbed as much as 2% as the dollar eased on Powell’s comments.

Tata Steel Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd and State Bank of India Ltd were among the top gainers. JSW Steel gained as much as 3.12%, while Tata Steel rose up to 2.3%.

The Nifty PSU bank index, which tracks state-owned lenders, advanced as much as 1%. Ten of the 12 stocks in the index were trading higher.

Meanwhile, the Nifty IT index fell 0.45%, with Infosys Ltd shedding as much as 0.9% ahead of its first-quarter results on Friday.

InterGlobe Aviation Ltd extended falls to decline as much as 5.83% after one of the co-founders of India’s largest airline IndiGo alleged the violation of corporate governance rules at the parent group.