Sensex Soars 666 Points, Nifty Ends Above 26,200

Sensex

Indian shares rose notably on Thursday to reach new record-high closing levels after a handful of Federal Reserve officials left the door open to another large rate cut.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, the chances of a jumbo 50-bps cut in November currently remain above 60 percent.

A sharp fall in oil prices also boosted sentiment after reports emerged that Saudi Arabia - the de facto leader of Opec - was prepared to pump more oil to regain market share.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 666.25 points, or 0.78 percent, to 85,836.12 while the broader NSE Nifty index closed at 26,216.05, up 211.90 points, or 0.81 percent, from its previous close.

Bajaj FinServ, Shriram Finance, Tata Motors, Grasim and Maruti Suzuki India rallied 3-4 percent in the Nifty pack while ONGC and Cipla ended down over 1 percent each.

Vedanta climbed 4.8 percent after it proposed to consider a fourth interim dividend.
PB Fintech rose 1.2 percent in volatile trading after the Policybazaar parent company said it is exploring a strategic entry into the healthcare sector.

Globally, Asian and European markets rose sharply today as U.S. memory chip maker Micron forecast higher than expected first-quarter revenue and Chinas politburo vowed to step up fiscal support to stabilize the beleaguered property sector.

The dollar edged lower, and gold hovered near record levels while oil extended overnight declines, falling about 2 percent in European trade on prospects for more Libyan and Saudi supply.