(Reuters) – Indian shares opened higher on Thursday, led by information technology stocks after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point in a bid to halt any slide in the labour market in the world’s largest economy.
The Nifty 50 added 0.44% to 25,441.05 and the BSE Sensex rose 0.50% to 83,108.92 as of 09:15 a.m. IST.
All 16 major sectors logged gains at the open. IT companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S., rose 1%.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps added 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
The Fed lowered rates for the first time this year on Wednesday to address the weakness emerging in the labour market.
However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell tempered the more aggressive easing expectations in markets, saying Wednesday’s move was a risk-management cut and that the central bank does not need to move quickly on rates.
Lower U.S. interest rates make emerging markets such as India attractive to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), as Treasury yields and the dollar typically decline in such a scenario.
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
