BENGALURU: Indian shares advanced on Thursday as a less hawkish stance by the US Federal Reserve on rate hikes eased market concerns, while a drop in overnight crude prices helped cool domestic inflation fears.

Blue-chip indexes Nifty 50 settled 0.19% higher at 22,648.2 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex appreciated 0.17% to 74,611.11.

The US central bank late on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged as expected by the markets and flagged hopes of no rate hikes in the near term.

The broader, more domestically focussed small-caps rose 0.04%, while the mid-caps gained 0.5%, outperforming the benchmarks.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remark that “a rate increase is unlikely” is regarded by the market as dovish, said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Market sentiments were also powered by gains in the Nifty energy index - which was up 1.1% - driven by an overnight drop in global oil prices amid rising hopes of a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East.

Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corp gained between 3.9% and 7.7%.