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-Indian shares rose to new highs on Thursday, tracking gains in global equities after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at slowing the pace of interest rate hikes "as soon as December."

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.77% to a record high of 63,583.07. The NSE Nifty 50 index gained 0.69% to hit fresh a record of 18,887.50.

"The Fed is not going to be aggressive, that's the takeaway from (Powell's) comments," said Deven Choksey, MD, KRChoksey Holdings Pvt Ltd.

"The kind of money flow that we are seeing in Indian markets suggests that there is an opportunity for global investors to invest in Indian markets."

Powell on Wednesday said it was time to slow the pace of coming interest rate hikes, although cautioned the fight against inflation was far from over.

Asian stocks jumped 1.6%, while the dollar slid as investors poured into risky assets after Powell's remarks. [MKTS/GLOB]

In India, IT stocks was the top sectoral gainer, rising over 2.1% to a near-seven-month high, mirroring the overnight surge in tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.

Choksey said global spending on IT could give the sector a leg up.

Among the decliners, autos fell over 0.5% as automakers started releasing their November sales data.

Bajaj Auto Ltd dropped 1.5% after reporting a 19% drop in auto sales. ($1 = 81.3590 Indian rupees)