Sensex rises 150 points after Fed decides to hold rates; Nifty above 22,650

HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, M&M, Tata Motors, and SBI drove the Sensex higher in early trade, while Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, and Maruti weighed down the index.

The U.S. Fed on late Wednesday flagged delays to interest rate cut than earlier expected.

Global oil prices fell to a near-seven-week low overnight, which normally tends to soften inflation expectations in the world's third-largest importer and consumer, India.

On the sectoral front, Auto rose 0.3%, led by gains in M&M, and Ashok Leyland. Nifty Financials, FMCG, Metals, Pharmaceuticals, and Consumer Durables also opened higher, whereas Nifty IT and Realty opened lower.

Kotak Mahindra Bank fell over 4% following the resignation of the private lender's joint managing director, KVS Manian, who stepped down after just two months in the role.

Experts View
"Today's trading is expected to be volatile as the Federal Reserve maintains interest rates at a 23-year high due to inflation concerns. Positive factors include record-high GST revenue, FIIs and DIIs being net buyers, and WTI oil prices falling below $80 a barrel," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said, "Nifty could now face resistance at 22783 while 22447 could offer support in the near term."

Global Markets
Asian stocks and U.S. futures rose on Thursday after the Federal Reserve downplayed the risks of an interest rate hike.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, pointing to the cash market recouping a late slide on Wall Street. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.6%, led by a 2% surge in Hong Kong. Tokyo's Nikkei was flat.

FII/DII Tracker
In terms of investor activity, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought Rs 1,071.93 crore worth of shares, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) injected Rs 1,429.11 crore into the market on April 30th, according to provisional data from the .

Crude Oil
Oil prices rose on Thursday, rebounding from three days of losses, on expectations the lower levels may prompt the U.S., the world's biggest crude consumer, to start replenishing its strategic reserve, putting a floor under prices.

Brent crude futures for July gained 48 cents, or 0.6%, to $83.92 a barrel on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June climbed 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $79.46 a barrel.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee rose 1 paisa to 83.42 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.01% to 105.75 level.

(With inputs from agencies)
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