India's Nifty 50, Sensex scale new peaks on hopes of Fed rate pause

BENGALURU, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Indias main indexes Nifty 50 and Sensex rose to hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday, led by metals and real estate stocks, after U.S. inflation data cemented the likelihood of a pause in the Federal Reserves rate hikes.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) was up 0.41% at a record 20,152.65 as of 9:53 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) climbed 0.37% to 67,715.44.

The Nifty had scaled new peaks on Monday and Tuesday, while the Sensex hit a record high for the first time since July 20 on Thursday.

All the 13 major sectors logged gains, with metals (.NIFTYMET) rising over 2% and realty stocks (.NIFTYREAL) adding 1.75%.

The more domestically focussed small-caps (.NIFSMCP100) and mid-caps (.NIFMDCP100), which witnessed elevated volatility earlier this week, gained 1% each.

“The undertone for Indian markets remains positive, aided by strong macro data and steady retail inflows although foreign selling has begun in September,\” Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets said, adding that the benchmarks could see \“further upside, but with higher volatility.\”

Gandhi, however, cautioned that the valuations are still on the higher side, which could cap the gains.

Analysts also said that the likelihood of a Fed rate pause would support the sentiment in the coming days.

Asian equities rose in early trading on easing rate concerns after U.S. consumer price data showed core inflation moderated to 4.3% in August from 4.7% in July, the smallest year-on-year rise in nearly two years.

However, the overall retail inflation accelerated 3.7% in August, the most in 14 months, on rising gasoline prices.

Among individual stocks, Bombay Dyeing and Mfg

Suven Pharmaceuticals (SUVH.NS) climbed 4% after government approved foreign investment of up to 95.89 billion rupees in the drug maker.

($1 = 82.9000 Indian rupees)