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Indian equity benchmarks held on to strong gains throughout the session and ended with gains of around two percent on Thursday amid a broad-based rally, as the Fed's first rate hike in more than three years and upbeat commentary on the world's largest economy boosted global shares. In line with the previous session, the benchmark opened gap-up, as sentiments got a boost with a private report stating that private equity and venture capital investments for the month of February 2022 were about $5.8 billion, 2.3 times the value recorded in February 2021 ($2.5 billion) and 24 per cent higher than investments in January 2022 ($4.6 billion). Sentiments remained upbeat with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel’s statement that the bilateral trade in goods is projected to increase from the current $60 billion to $100 billion annually within five years of the implementation of the India-UAE free trade agreement. Some solace also came in as the income tax department said income tax refunds worth over Rs 1.92 lakh crore have been issued to more than 2.24 crore taxpayers so far this fiscal.

Buying further crept in as commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India's merchandise exports have reached almost $390 billion as of March 14 and will cross $400 billion in the current financial year. Besides, exchange data showed foreign institutional investors turned net buyers after their recent selling spree, picking up shares worth Rs 311.99 crore on Wednesday. Market participants paid no heed towards Credit rating agency, Moody's Investors Service in its ‘Global Macro Outlook 2022-23 (March 2022 Update)’ has lowered India's growth estimate by 0.4 percentage point for the current year to 9.1 per cent, from 9.5 per cent earlier, as the agency is expecting high fuel and potentially fertilizer costs would weigh on government finances down the road, potentially limiting planned capital spending. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has recommended the continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese aluminium foil, used in food and pharma sectors, for five years to guard domestic players from cheap imports.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, as caution ahead of the Bank of England's monetary policy review later in the day as well as developments from eastern Europe are expected to soften any wild display of relief over the expected quarter percentage rate hike. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday amidst relief that the Fed did not increase interest rates more than the expected level of quarter percent. Beijing's strong support to stabilize financial markets also increased positive sentiment for Chinese equities while also triggering a risk-on sentiment for equities in the region. Back home, aviation industry stocks were buzzing with report that Jet fuel prices were hiked by over 18 per cent - the steepest ever increase - to all-time high levels after international oil price surged to a multi-year high. The increase - sixth straight this year - led to prices soaring past the Rs 1-lakh-per-kilolitre mark for the first time ever. Power stocks were in action as Power Minister R K Singh said electricity demand can beat all previous records and cross the 200 GW mark in March itself in view of soaring temperatures. Hospitality industry was in focus as The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has sought reduction in GST rates for the hospitality industry, as the sector struggles to recover from the impact of the pandemic-induced restrictions.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 1047.28 points or 1.84% to 57,863.93 and the CNX Nifty was up by 311.70 points or 1.84% to 17,287.05.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 58,095.84 and 57,518.06, respectively. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.07%, while Small cap index was up by 1.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.14%, Consumer Durables up by 2.73%, Energy up by 2.68%, Finance up by 2.55% and Auto up by 2.15%, while IT down by 0.43%, TECK down by 0.26% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 5.50%, Titan Company up by 4.50%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.29%, Reliance Industries up by 3.18% and Asian Paints up by 3.07%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.81% and HCL Technologies down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings in its latest report has said that large oil importers like India and Thailand will be the most affected among Asia-Pacific countries by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. S&P estimates the Indian economy to grow 7.8 per cent in the next fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022. Besides, the economy is expected to grow 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent in 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively. It projected inflation at 5.4 per cent in the current fiscal year.

It said banks in Asia-Pacific (APAC) region have small direct exposure to Russia which will soften the impact of the conflict, but proximate downside risks -- in particular, actual and potential secondary economic and other risks -- lie ahead. As per the report, the biggest risk of the Ukraine conflict is market volatility and higher commodity prices; emerging economies with large energy imports are most at risk.

India relies on overseas purchases to meet about 85 per cent of its oil requirement, making it one of the most vulnerable in Asia to higher oil prices. International oil prices had climbed to a 14-year high of near $140 per barrel last week on fears of supply disruption following Russia's invasion of Ukraine beginning February 24. Rates have since eased to around $100 per barrel. S&P said India and Thailand are large oil importers and will be the most affected among large Asia-Pacific countries.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,344.60 and 17,175.75. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 5.36%, Titan Company up by 4.59%, JSW Steel up by 4.39%, SBI Life Insurance up by 3.52% and Reliance Industries up by 3.50%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.05%, Cipla down by 0.86%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.49%, HCL Technologies down by 0.42% and Coal India down by 0.20% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 5.28 points or 0.07% to 7,286.40, France’s CAC decreased 4.53 points or 0.07% to 6,584.11 and Germany’s DAX decreased 89.84 points or 0.62% to 14,350.90.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday following the broadly positive cues overnight from U.S.  markets, following the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The U.S. Fed announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates for the first time since December of 2018 in an effort to combat inflation at 40-year highs. The Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 to 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, China’s strong support to stabilize financial markets also increased positive sentiment for Chinese equities while also triggering a risk-on sentiment for equities in the region. Hang Seng was the top gainer with a 7 percent surge. The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 ended higher tracking in a big way the gains at Wall Street. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to keep interest rates on hold in the current monetary policy review concluding on Friday amidst comments from BoJ Governor that Japan was unlikely to see inflation hitting the 2 percent target, despite rising energy costs.

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