Stock markets rally in early trade tracking firm global trends amid hopes of rate cut by US Federal Reserve

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rallied in early trade on Monday tracking a firm trend in global markets amid hopes of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve later this month.

The recent GST rate cut announcement also added to markets’ optimism during the initial trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 296.26 points to 81,007.02 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 90.35 points to 24,831.35.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, UltraTech Cement and Power Grid were among the gainers.

However, Asian Paints, Trent, Bharti Airtel and Titan were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded in positive territory.

US markets ended lower on Friday.

“Post-September 22^nd when the new GST rates come into effect, there will be huge spurt in demand, particularly for automobiles and consumer durables. This has the potential to lift the market sentiments,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

The August non-farm payrolls report showed the American economy added just 22,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent from 4.2 per cent.

This soft labour data has strengthened hopes of a rate cut by the US Fed.

“The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates by 25 bps at its 17 September meeting,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,304.91 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 1,821.23 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.19 per cent to USD 66.29 a barrel.

On Friday, the Sensex ended lower by 7.25 points or 0.01 per cent at 80,710.76. The Nifty eked out gains of 6.70 points or 0.03 per cent to 24,741.