IT prods Indian shares towards record highs after Powell's dovish tilt
Twelve of 13 major sectors logged gains
Thirty-three of Nifty 50 stocks advance
Small- and mid-caps rise 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively
Market breadth skewed in favour of bulls
Nifty 50 logs longest daily winning streak since July 2023
Updates to close
By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Indian information technology stocks pushed domestic shares to within touching distance of a record high on Monday after the Federal Reserve chief signalled imminent interest rate cuts.
The NSE Nifty 50 index .NSEI was up 0.76% at 25,010.6, while the S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN settled 0.75% higher at 81,698.11.
The Nifty 50 hit the 25,000 mark for the second time ever during the session.
With the session's gains, the benchmarks turned positive for the month and areless than 0.5% shy off all-time high levels hit on Aug. 1.
Benign U.S. inflation data, low jobless claims readings, dovish Fed minutes and Powell's remarks last week have helped boosted global sentiment.
The heavyweight IT index.NIFTYIT, rose 1.39% on the day. IT companiesearn a chunk of their revenue from the United States.
Metals .NIFTYMET jumped 2.16% and the index was the top sectoral gainer, helped by hopes of Fed rate cuts and a softer U.S. dollar. MET/L
Fourteen of the 15 constituents of the metal index advanced. Aluminium maker Hindalco Industries HALC.NS jumped 3.9% and was the top Nifty 50 gainer.
On Friday, Powell said "the time has come for policy to adjust", signalling that the central bank is ready to start its policy easing cycle.
"The momentum in Indian equity markets is likely to remain positive as a potential Fed rate cut in September would encourage foreign portfolio investments and improve overall market sentiment," said Nirav Karkera and Sagar Shinde, research analysts at wealth management platform Fisdom Research.
The more domestically focussed small- .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 added about 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
Paytm PAYT.NS dropped 4.4% after a report said that India's marketsregulator had issuedshow-cause notices to founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and board members who served during the company's initial public offering in 2021.
Drug maker Zydus Lifesciences lost about 6% as rival Teva Pharma TEVA.N received approvalfrom U.S. drug regulator for a generic drug.
Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Sonia Cheema
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