Sensex, Nifty rally as market awaits US Fed decision and commentary

• From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro jumped 4% and Tata Motors climbed nearly 2%.
• From the 30-share club, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints were the laggards.
• In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

Equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, are rallying in the morning hours of trade on Tuesday. Investors have their eyes peeled on the Federal Reserve rate decision and the inflation commentary by the Fed Chair Jerome Powell. At the time of publishing, the 30-share BSE Sensex is up over 500 points and is inching in on 66,900. The broader NSE Nifty has rallied 0.7% and has crossed the 19,800 peak.

From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro jumped 4% and Tata Motors climbed nearly 2%. ITC, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries and Power Grid were the other major gainers.

Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday posted a 36% rise in net profit to Rs 3,116.12 crore for the June quarter, mainly aided by execution of a healthy order book in its projects and manufacturing portfolio.

Tata Motors reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,300.65 crore for the quarter, riding on sharp improvements in performance of its British arm Jaguar Land Rover and commercial vehicles business.

From the 30-share club, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.

"Globally, market participants will be closely watching the Fed chief Jerome Powell's comments about the disinflation process in the US and the likely trend in interest rates. A 25 basis points rate hike, already discounted by the market, will not trigger any market move.

"But if the Fed chief indicates that inflation is coming under control and, therefore, no further rate hikes are needed, that will be a big trigger for markets to move up. But such an outcome is highly unlikely since the Fed will play it safe even if inflation is coming under control," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.42% lower at USD 83.29 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,088.76 crore, according to exchange data.

The Sensex had slipped 29.07 points or 0.04% to settle at 66,355.71 on Tuesday. The Nifty inched up by 8.25 points or 0.04% to end at 19,680.60.

(Text inputs from PTI)