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Mumbai, Sep 12 (IANS) The Indian benchmark indices opened with mild gains on Friday on the back of strong global cues, driven by growing expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut next week.

As of 9.25 am, Sensex was up 114 points or 0.14 per cent at 81,663, and Nifty was up 39 points or 0.16 per cent at 25,045.

The broadcap indices outperformed benchmark indices, as Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.43 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 moved up 0.36 per cent.

Adani Enterprises, Infosys, TCS, NTPC and Axis Bank were among major gainers on Nifty, while losers were Bajaj Finserv, Titan Company and Tata Consumer Products.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, the top gainer, jumped 1.01 per cent. Nifty IT (up 0.74 per cent) and Nifty Metal (up 0.59 per cent) were the other major gainers. Nifty FMCG was the top loser down 0.62 per cent.

Adding to the investor optimism, US President Donald Trump has reportedly invited Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for a meeting with the US Trade Representative to discuss a potential trade deal -- a development that could ease tensions between the two countries.

Nifty on Thursday managed to surpass the 25,000 hurdle and continued its upward journey for the seventh day in a row to close at its highest levels since 21 August. Nifty finally managed to close above the downward sloping trend line resistance on the daily chart

Analysts said that the short-term trend of the Nifty remains bullish as it has been holding above 5, 20 and 50 DMAs. Immediate resistance for Nifty is seen at 25153, derived from the previous swing high.

US markets surged to fresh records overnight as jobless claims spiked to a four-year high of 263,000, cementing expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts despite August inflation accelerating to 2.9 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.36 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced by 0.72 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.85 per cent.

Markets now price in a 94.8 per cent probability of a quarter-point Fed cut next week, with only 5.2 per cent odds of a half-point reduction.

Most of the Asian markets made strong gains during the morning session. While China's Shanghai index advanced 0.24 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.15 per cent, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.91 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.42 per cent. South Korea's Kospi inched up 1.15 per cent.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 3,472 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,046 crore.

--IANS

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