BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares opened higher on Friday, led by metals, as an outsized interest rate reduction by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the anticipation of a soft landing for the world’s largest economy boosted risk appetite across global markets.
The Nifty 50 index rose 0.31% to 25,498.9 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.31% higher at 83,436, as of 9:22 a.m. IST. The blue-chip indexes were just shy of record high levels hit on Thursday.
All the 13 major sectors advanced in early trade. Metals climbed 1.75%, with all 15 constituents logging gains.
JSW Steel jumped 3.5% after Macquarie upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “buy”.
The brokerage also raised target prices on Jindal Steel and Power, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Coal India.
Macquarie, which now has an “outperform” rating on all five metal stocks in its portfolio, said the global rate easing cycle will be disinflationary and support commodity markets into 2025, while aiding steelmakers’ earnings.
The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose 0.75% and 0.5%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, non-bank lender IIFL Finance jumped 11% after the Reserve Bank of India lifted curbs on its gold loan business.
Other Asian markets also rose, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index gaining 0.8%.
Japan’s Nikkei advanced 2%, after the Bank of Japan held rates steady and stayed upbeat on the economy.
China markets were the only exception, with the blue-chip CSI 300 losing about 0.3%, after the central bank held its benchmark lending rates steady, hurting expectations of further policy support to revive its economy.
Wall Street equities closed higher overnight, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high.
The 50-basis-point Fed rate cut on Wednesday and data showing smaller-than-expected weekly jobless claims on Thursday sparked optimism that the U.S. economy could achieve a soft landing – a scenario of cooling inflation without triggering an economic recession. [MKTS/GLOB]
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Eileen Soreng)
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