Sensex mirrors Asian gains, goes up after US central bank holds rates

Mumbai: Stock markets rose today, in line with upbeat Asian shares, following an optimistic appraisal of economic conditions by the US Federal Reserve.

The US central bank left interest rates unchanged at the end of its two-day policy meet, but remains on path for a possible December hike as it cited “solid rate” of growth. This lifted Asian markets, which in turn made the 30-share Sensex firm up 45.53 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 33,645.80. It rallied 387.14 points to close at a record high of 33,600.27 in the previous session.

Healthcare, consumer durables, IT, oil and gas, realty, technology and banking indices made gains. The National Stock Exchange index Nifty too was up 8.55 points, or 0.08 per cent, to trade at 10,449.05. Big gainers were Sun Pharma, Lupin, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and TCS, rising by up to 2.65 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng moved up 0.10 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.23 per cent today, but Shanghai Composite shed 0.47 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.25 per cent up yesterday.