Nifty Open Higher: Fed Holds Rates Near Zero

Indian equities market surged on Wednesday ahead of Federal Reserve meeting. The Sensex was up 258.04 points or 1% at 25963.97, and the Nifty ended up 70.05 points or 0.9% at 7899.15. Indian markets were closed on Thursday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. Trading on bourses is resuming on Today.

US Stocks fell on Thursday after the Federal Reserve decided to hold off on raising interest rates now, citing weakness in the global economy and unsettled financial markets. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 65.21 points, or 0.4%, to 16,674.74. The S&P 500 index fell 5.11 points, or 0.3%, to 1,990.20 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.71 points, or 0.1%, to 4,893.95.

Crude Oil finished slightly lower after the Fed's comments. U.S. crude fell 25 cents to USD 46.90 a barrel. Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oils imported by U.S. refineries, fell 67 cents to USD 49.08 a barrel.

Europe’s stock markets were flat yesterday with investors cautious ahead of a highly-anticipated U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates later on Thursday. London’s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.68% to close at 6,186.99 points, the CAC 40 in Paris lifted a slight 0.20% to finish at 4,655.14 points, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 edged up a mere 0.02% to 10,229.58 points compared with Wednesday’s close. The pan-European STOXX 600 failed to hold onto gains, ending around 0.1% lower.

Asian shares outside Japan mostly rebound early Friday, recovering from early losses after the Federal Reserve cited concerns about global economic growth in its decision to hold off on raising interest rates. Japan’s NIKKEI 225 lost 1.32% as the yen weakened 0.1% against the dollar. South Korea’s Kospi index clawed back early losses to inch up 0.73%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index added 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite index moving between gains and losses and now slipped 0.10%.

A SGX CNX Nifty Index future for September delivery was up 22 points at 7,963. Indian market is likely to open in positive, following the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates near zero. Indian investors are also hopeful that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would cut interest rates for a fourth time this year at its policy review on September 29, after data earlier this week showed consumer inflation easing to the lowest on record.