Closing Bell: Sensex Up 899 Pts, Nifty Above 23,190; Banks, FMCG, IT, Metal Stocks Top Bulls

Indian stock market closed higher for fourth consecutive day with Sensex crossing 76,450 and Nifty 50 hitting over 23, 210 levels on Thursday, March 20. The bullish trend is fuelled by weakness in the dollar, the slowdown in FIIs selloff and strong buying from domestic institutional investors (DIIs). Investors are also positioning their portfolios ahead of the Q4 earnings season.

The performance also comes after the US Federal Reserve hinted at upcoming 50 bps rates in the second half of 2025, while keeping key fund rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.50% on March 19, in line with market estimates.

Broad-based buying led Sensex to end at 76,348.06, higher by 899.01 points or 1.19%, while Nifty 50 closed at 23,190.65, up by 283.05 points or 1.24%. Bank Nifty surged by 360.25 points to finish at 50,062.85. India's volatility index dropped by 5.22%. Midcap and small-cap indexes surged by nearly 1%. Auto, FMCG, IT, Media, Metal, Realty, and Pharma were among the top gainers. Notably, all sectoral indices closed in green.

Satish Chandra Aluri, Lemonn Markets Desk said, benchmark indices got a Fed booster shot on Thursday extending gains for fourth straight session, after US Fed kept the forecast for two rate cuts in 2025 intact despite inflation risks from Trump's trade war. Broader Mid and Small caps also posted gains for the day. All major sectors also logged gains in broad-based rally with Nifty IT recovering from steep losses in recent weeks.

Chandra added, US Fed is undoubtedly the driving force behind today's market rally as markets took comfort from the strong overnight gains in US indices, after US Fed kept the projection for two rate cuts in 2025 unchanged compared to Dec 2024. This is despite the upward revision to 2025 inflation forecast to 2.7% from 2.5% earlier while downgrading US growth outlook to 1.7% from 2.1% earlier. Fed chair Powell mentioned the "unusually elevated uncertainty" to describe the current macroeconomic outlook given the Trump's trade war and shifting geopolitical developments. Markets took the usage of word "transitory" by Powell to describe any disorderly rise in inflation due to trade shocks as signal that Fed may not act forcefully to hike rates, which led to a strong rally in equities. Weakness in US Dollar and fall in treasury yields reinforced the positive sentiment and domestic equities extended gains to breach the key 23000 level.

Technically, Chandra said, "Nifty 50 closed just below 23200 level with immediate resistance around 23200 levels, followed by 23400. On downside, 23000 acts as immediate support zone. Bank Nifty also extended gains regaining 50000 level with immediate support at 49800. On the upside, resistance is around 50500."