Indian Shares End Choppy Session Mixed After Fed Hike

(RTTNews) - Indian shares swung between gains and losses on Thursday before ending on a mixed note.

A cautious undertone prevailed after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years and signaled more increases to curb persistent inflation.

As Fed officials shift focus to broader and more persistent inflation pressures, traders have increased bets the Fed will keep raising rates, with at least one more increase predicted this year.

On the positive side, the U.S. dollar index weakened, and U.S. Treasury yields edged lower, reflecting markets' increased trust in the Federal Reserve's resolve to bring inflation under control.

Additionally, Brent crude futures fell toward $104 a barrel, extending losses from the previous session as reports of additional Saudi crude cargoes through Oman helped ease supply concerns.

It was said that Saudi Arabia is seeking to restore roughly half the capacity of its damaged East-West pipeline within days and bring it back to full operation within six weeks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex moved in a narrow range before ending the session down 21.86 points at 74,314.59.

The NSE Nifty index rose 53 points, or 0.23 percent, to 23,270.60 while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes jumped 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,686 shares rising while 1,647 shares fell and 202 shares closed unchanged.

Among the top gainers, Maruti Suzuki India, Eternal, Indigo, BEL and Tata Steel surged 2-3 percent. Among those that fell, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Titan Company dropped over 1 percent each.