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The Indian benchmark indices witnessed significant gains on Thursday as the Sensex closed trade above 84,800 or over 420 points higher and the Nifty tested 25,900 or 140 points higher at 3:30 PM.

In the 30-share BSE Sensex, among the top gainers were stocks such as Tata Steel, Eternal, Kotak Bank, Ultra Cement and Maruti. Meanwhile, the laggards included ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, ICICI Bank and PowerGrid. 

During the opening session at 9:15 AM, markets opened almost flat as the Sensex opened at 84,392.35 or over 1 point higher and the Nifty gained 20 points starting trade above 25,700. 

Asian Markets Trade Lower

Major Asian indices were in the red on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI all trading lower in early session activity. The weak sentiment across regional markets reflected cautious investor mood following key global monetary developments.

Wall Street Ends Higher After Fed Rate Cut

US markets closed higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve trimmed the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, bringing it to a range of 3.5–3.75 per cent at its December meeting. Despite the cut, policymakers kept their longer-term projections unchanged from September, signalling only one 25-basis-point reduction in 2026.

Institutional Flows Remain Mixed

On the domestic front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to offload holdings, emerging as net sellers of equities worth Rs 1,651.06 crore on Wednesday. In contrast, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) supported the market, purchasing shares worth Rs 3,752.31 crore, exchange data showed.

Crude Prices Steady

In commodities, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was marginally higher, rising 0.03 per cent to USD 62.23 per barrel.