BENGALURU: Indian blue-chip indexes shrugged off a weak start on Thursday to end at four-week highs as IT stocks continued to bask in expectations that the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates, which also triggered buying interest from foreign investors.

The NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.46% higher at 19,765.20, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.47% to 65,982.48, notching their highest closes since Oct. 17.

IT stocks have surged 5.35% in the past two sessions as US economic data led to bets that the Fed will forgo more rate hikes and indeed start cutting rates by May.

The jump in IT companies, which have a large US client base, was led by Tata Consultancy Services’s 2.75% gain after it set a record date for its 170 billion rupees share buyback plan.

HCLTech, Tech Mahindra and Infosys rose 2.4%-3%, among the most on the Nifty.

“The expectations of an end to the global rate hike cycle spurred by benign inflation readings in the US and UK have powered the gains in Indian markets,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities. Even the more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose 0.58% and 0.78%, respectively.