Indian shares end week 4% higher on financials boost

Indian shares ended the holiday-shortened week about 4 per cent higher on Thursday, underpinned by heavyweight financials, with risk sentiment bouyed by a rally in global markets after the US Federal Reserve hiked benchmark rates.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) closed 1.84 per cent higher at 17,287.05, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) climbed 1.84 per cent to finish at 57,863.93. Both indexes scaled above the key 200-day moving average.

The Nifty and the Sensex posted weekly gains of 3.95 per cent and 4.17 per cent, respectively. The markets will be closed on Friday for a holiday.

European and broader Asian markets climbed, joining a rally in Wall Street, after the US central bank increased rates by an expected quarter point while signalling equivalent hikes at every meeting for the rest of the year.

"The message from Powell and the FOMC forecasts is that the expected hikes will achieve disinflation without much slowing in growth or increase in unemployment," said Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global Financial Services.