The key equity indices continued to trade with minor gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,150 mark. Metal, private bank and FMCG stocks were in demand while IT, realty and PSU bank scrips declined. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 112.91 points or 0.19% to 58,327.50. The Nifty 50 index added 35.75 points or 0.21% to 17,187.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.16% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.15%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,657 shares rose and 1,759 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

The US Fed hiked rates by 25 basis points, which is in line with the market expectations amid turmoil in the US banking sector.

Gainers & Losers:

Hindalco Industries (up 1.74%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.31%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.22%), Tata Motors (up 1.18%) and HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 1.18%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Asian Paints (down 1.79%), HCL Technologies (down 1.20%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.20%), Infosys (down 0.77%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.76%) were the top Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro added 0.38%. The EPC major on Wednesday announced that it has entered into an electrolyzer manufacturing binding agreement with France-based McPhy Energy for a long-term partnership to explore the opportunities unfolding in the emerging green hydrogen market.

Nazara Technologies advanced 1.40% after Absolute Sports, the parent company of Sportskeeda announced that it has signed definitive agreements, to acquire a 73.27% stake in Pro Football Network LLC (PFN), a premier source of coverage and analysis of the NFL (United States' most watched sport) and college football. Absolute Sports (Sportskeeda) is a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies.

H.G. Infra Engineering rallied 4.90% after the civil construction company announced that it has been declared as lowest bidder (L-1) by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road construction project in Jharkhand.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals fell 0.13%. The drug maker said that it has received final approval from US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for Calcipotriene and Betamethasone Dipropionate Foam, 0.005%, 0.064%.

G R Infraprojects jumped 7.84%. The civil construction company emerged as lowest (L‐1) bidder for tender invited by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project amounting to Rs 1,226.87 crore in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile yesterday, G R Infra announced that Dibang Power consortium, a joint venture between the company and Patel Engineering, has emerged as lowest bidder (L-1) for construction of civil works project in Arunachal Pradesh. The bid project cost is Rs 3,637.12 crore and the share of GR Infraprojects in the contract is 50%.

Further, the EPC company also announced that it has emerged as L‐1 bidder for the tender invited by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project amounting to Rs 872.17 crore in Maharashtra.

Global Markets:

Most European shares declined while Asian stocks traded mixed on Thursday, following Wall Street's reaction overnight after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked rates by another 25 basis points.

US stocks end sharply lower on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected 25 basis point policy hike. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell re-stated his commitment to curbing inflation, including the possibility of more interest rate rises.

The Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points, in line with Wall Street's predictions. The increase takes the benchmark federal funds rate to a target range between 4.75%-5%.

The Federal Open Market Committee said in a post-meeting statement that it “will closely monitor incoming information and assess the implications for monetary policy.” Fed projections call for just one more hike this year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the FDIC was not considering providing “blanket insurance” for banking deposits. Yellen made the remarks at a hearing of a U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee. Yellen said the administration was not considering expanding bank deposit guarantees beyond the current limit of $250,000, as per reports.