Sensex climbs 165 points, Nifty hits 7,800 on Fed rate hike

Mumbai: Extending its rising streak for the fourth consecutive session, the benchmark BSE Sensex rallied 165 points and the NSE Nifty regained the 7,800-mark in early trade on Thursday amid a firming trend at Asian bourses as global markets had already factored in the Fed interest rate hike.

The 30-share barometer shot up by 164.95 points, or 0.64 percent, to 25,659.32. The gauge had gained about 350 points in the previous three sessions.

SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp and Sun Pharma were the major gainers that supported the index rally.

The NSE Nifty recaptured the 7,800-mark by gaining 49.25 points, or 0.63 percent, at 7,800.15.

Brokers said continued buying by retail investors, tracking a firming trend at other Asian bourses following overnight rally in US markets after the Federal Reserve announced the first interest rate hike in nearly a decade and said that the economy is growing at a moderate pace and should accelerate next year, influenced sentiments here.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.02 percent and Shanghai Composite gained 1.34 percent while Japan's Nikkei surged 2.29 percent in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.28 percent higher yesterday.