(Updates at 9:50 a.m. IST)

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, Aug 1 (Reuters) - India's benchmark stock

index Nifty 50 breached the 25,000-points mark for the first

time ever on Thursday, tracking a global rally after U.S.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a possible

interest rate cut in September.

The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.37% to 25,042.95 as of 9:50

a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.31% to

81,999.68.

The broader, more domestically focussed small-

and mid-caps rose about 0.3% each.

Asian markets joined the overnight rally on Wall Street

after the Fed held interest rates steady as expected and Powell

spoke of a "growing sense of confidence" that rate cuts could

start in September, also as expected.

"A September rate cut in the U.S. will bring more

investments into emerging markets, with Indian markets standing

to benefit substantially," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail

research at HDFC Securities.

Eleven of the 13 major sub-indexes logged gains. Metals

rose 1.75% on a softer U.S. dollar, which makes the

commodity cheaper for holders of other currencies, with

expectations of further stimulus from top consumer China also

aiding the rally.

Maruti Suzuki jumped 3.2% after beating

June-quarter profit estimates, helped by higher sports utility

vehicles sales.

Tata Steel rose 2% after posting a rise in

quarterly profit, while Coal India gained 3% after it

beat quarterly profit estimates.

Maruti, Coal India and Tata Steel were among the top five

Nifty 50 gainers.

Oil upstream companies ONGC and Oil India

gained 1.5% and 3.5%, respectively, after government

cut the windfall tax on petroleum crude to 4,600 rupees ($55)

from 7,000 rupees per metric ton.

Upstream oil companies benefit from a cut in windfall

tax as it reduces the tax on their crude oil output.

Bucking the trend, Infosys, India's No.2 IT

company, fell 0.5% after it got a $4 billion tax bill related to

services in some of its overseas branches.

($1 = 83.6723 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio

D'Souza and Varun H K)