Nifty pares some gains after hitting fresh high; Tata Steel top gainer

The Nifty50 index hit a fresh record high and the rupee rose to its strongest level in nearly 17 months on Thursday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in US by 25 basis points but sounded less hawkish than expected on future interest rate tightening.

The Nifty index rose as much as 68 points to 9,153, surpassing its previous all-time high of 9,122 hit on March 14, post BJP's UP election victory. The S&P BSE Sensex, on the other hand, gained 217 points to 29615, over 400 points away from its lifetime of 30,025. 

At 01:50 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,534, up 136 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,135, up 50 points. 

Broader market outperformed the frontline indices with the BSE Mid-Cap index and the BSE Smallcap index advancing 1.3% and 1%, respectively.

Tata Steel, Adani Ports and Hindalco were the top gainer on Nifty and added up to 4% on the NSE. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,690 shares rose and 909 shares fell. A total of 183 shares were unchanged.

Shares of capital goods companies were trading higher for the fifth straight trading sessions with the BSE capital goods index hitting 18-month high on Thursday.

HCL Technologies gained 3% to Rs 864, trading close to its 52-week high on BSE, after the company said that its board of directors will meet on Monday, March 20, 2017 to consider a share buyback proposal.

Ashok Buildcon has moved higher to its 52-week high of Rs 199.65, up 7% on BSE in intra-day trade, after the company said its subsidiary - Ashoka Concessions (ACL) has emerged as the lowest bidder for bid submitted to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals hit its upper circuit at Rs 12.84, up 5% on back of heavy volumes on reports that Coromandel International is in talks to buy the company.

L&T rose over 2% after the company said L&T Electrical & Automation FZE won a major order worth Rs 500 crore from Qatar Rail Company (QRAIL) for Phase I of Doha Metro. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 March 2017.

On the macroeconomic data front, exports rose 17.48% at $24.49 billion in February 2017 over February 2016. Imports rose 21.76% to $33.38 billion in February 2017 over February 2016. The data was announced after market hours yesterday, 15 March 2017.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.