Equity markets and gold prices rallied sharply after US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that interest rates would be cut thrice in this year, starting from June.

The key benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, opened on a positive note and surged by over one per cent each on Thursday.

The Sensex was up 540 points, or 0.75 per cent at 72,641, while the Nifty 50 ended the day with a rise of 173 points at 22,012.

Only 4 stocks of Sensex and 10 stocks of Nifty ended in red amid strong bullish sentiments.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said the US Fed hinted at the possibility of implementing three rate cuts this year, and this led to a relief rally in the global equity markets while boosting sentiments in mid- and small-cap stocks.

Gold prices jump

Gold prices were up by ₹1,225 per 10 grams to ₹66,914 per 10 grams in the spot market, even as the overall demand remained weak.

The yellow metal opened strong at ₹66,984 against yesterday’s close of ₹65,689 per 10 gram. In the futures market, gold for April delivery rallied to a new high of ₹66,943 after gaining ₹1,193 per 10 gram.

Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst, LKP Securities, said gold touched an all-time high driven by dovish commentary from the Fed Chair, who emphasised the importance of managing inflation without compromising economic stability, despite ongoing geopolitical challenges.

G-secs softened

Meanwhile, yields of government securities (G-Sec) softened substantially, tracking a decline in US Treasury yields.

The yield of the widely traded 10-year benchmark G-Sec (coupon rate: 7.18 per cent) thawed about 4 basis points to close at 7.0477 per cent (previous close: 7.0918 per cent). The price of this paper rose 30 paise to close at ₹100.8875 (previous close: ₹100.5875).

The rupee ended the day almost flat at 83.1475 against the US dollar against the previous close of 83.1575.

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