BENGALURU: Indian shares rose to a record high in early trade on Thursday, led by information technology stocks, after the US Federal Reserve started its monetary easing cycle with a large 50-basis-point rate cut.

The Nifty 50 index was up 0.76% at 25,570.6 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.82% at 83,647.96, as of 9:22 a.m. IST.

The bold and surprise move by the Fed is positive for equity markets, said Dhawal Ghanshyam Dhanani, fund manager at SAMCO Mutual Fund.

The rate cut will boost Indian IT companies’ earnings as it should support the US economy, three analysts said.

Indian shares ease off record highs ahead of Fed decision

IT companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the US, rose 1.6% and were the top sectoral gainer.

All 13 major sectors logged gains.

The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose about 0.6% each. Other Asian markets also gained, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rising 0.9%.