The U.S. stock market experienced a significant surge on Tuesday as concerns over the banking sector were allayed following reassurances from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. This development helped to boost market confidence and sentiment, with all three major stock indexes posting consecutive gains.
Investors are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve‘s interest-rate decision on Wednesday, with an 83% chance of a 25-basis-point increase to the federal-funds rate predicted by CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
In a further boost to the mood, reports suggest that the U.S. Treasury is exploring ways to enhance the guarantees on bank deposits.
Meanwhile, Asian shares have cautiously risen on Wednesday, amid hopes that a global banking crisis can be avoided. However, uncertainty over the U.S. interest rates outlook remains as the Federal Reserve conducts its high-stakes policy meeting.
In India, the Nifty index has continued to rise for the third day out of the past four sessions, benefiting from the overnight gains in the U.S. markets. At close, the Nifty was up 0.70% or 119.1 points at 17107.5. Technical analysis suggests that a move above 17146 could potentially take the Nifty to 17255 in the near term, while on the downside, 16985 is seen as a key support level.