Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Thursday, building on one-month peaks scaled the previous day, amid gains across sectors as investors awaited the onset of the earnings season for cues. Global markets saw mixed moves ahead of the release of the Fed's last policy review for more clarity on the state of the world's largest economy amid fears of a slowdown.

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NSE

Financial, IT and oil & gas were the biggest boosts for both headline indices, which rose as much as 0.9 percent in the first few minutes of trade.

The 30-scrip Sensex index rose 498.8 points to 54,249.7 at the strongest level of the day so far, and the broader Nifty50 benchmark climbed to as high as 16,139.5, up 149.7 points from its previous close.

Barring two stocks, all of the Nifty50 components began the day in the green.

ICICI Bank, Coal India, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life and Bharat Petroleum were also among the top blue-chip gainers, rising more than one percent each. Britannia and Bharti Airtel — down 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent respectively — were the only laggards in the 50-scrip pack.

Infosys, ICICI Bank, Titan and TCS were the biggest contributors to the gains in main indices.

TCS shares rose as much as 1.5 percent — rising for a second straight day — as investors waited for the financial results of the country's largest software exporter due on Friday.

"The sharp correction in crude, commodities like metals, and the declining trend in edible oil indicate that inflation will come under control soon... The bulls have again turned buyers and the near term structure of the market has turned clearly bullish now," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The Nifty Realty was among the top gainers among NSE's sectoral gauges, after strong quarterly business updates from Macrotech and Sobha.

Harendra Kumar, Managing Director at Elara Securities, believes real estate is a secular story.

"As our per capita income starts to move up from $2,500 to $3,500 and $4,000 in terms of discretionary spend, the ownership of homes will be right up there. We've seen that in Bangalore and now you're seeing a follow through in the Mumbai market as well," he told CNBC-TV18.

Overall market breadth favoured the bulls, as 1,535 stocks rose and 385 fell on NSE.

Global markets

Equities in other Asian markets were a mixed bag ahead of the Fed minutes, as caution persisted on the course of hikes in COVID-era interest rates to fight red-hot inflation. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent.

S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1 percent, suggesting a sluggish start ahead on Wall Street.

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First Published:Jul 7, 2022 9:34 AM IST