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By Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee
BENGALURU, March 21 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Thursday, helped by metals stocks, joining a global equity rally after the Federal Reserve maintained its projection of three interest rate cuts this year.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index advanced 0.79% to 22,011.95, while the BSE Sensex added 0.75% to 72,641.19.
"The spillover of risk appetite after Fed's commentary has led to an uptick in global equities including India," said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking.
Metals jumped 2.4%, aided by a weaker U.S. dollar after the Fed said on Wednesday it remained on track for three rate cuts in 2024.
A weaker dollar makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies. .
Besides metals, realty and public sector banks
climbed 2%-3% on the day, while large-cap stocks including HDFC Bank and Larsen & Toubro added 1%-1.5%, leading gains in the Nifty 50.
The Fed's commentary propped up expectations of a rate cut in June, the odds of which rose to 77% from 59% on Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, triggering a global markets rally.
All 13 major sectors logged gains, with the key financial services index rising 0.83%.
U.S.-rate sensitive information technology $(IT)$ stocks gained 0.78%, after dropping 5.1% in the last four sessions.
Investors' interest in the IT sector will fully revive only after client spending recovers in the U.S. and earnings improve in the March quarter, said Aishvarya Dadheech, chief investment officer at Fident Asset management.
The broader, more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps gained about 2.5% each, shaking off their recent underperformance.
Drugmaker Cipla added 2.37% after HSBC reiterated "buy" and raised the stock's price target on strong earnings outlook for fiscal 2025 in key markets including India, U.S. and South Africa.
Retail chain operator D-mart jumped 2.63% after CLSA initiated coverage with a "buy" rating and set a Street-high price target of 5,107 rupees.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Varun H K and Sonia Cheema)
((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))
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