India's GIFT Nifty was up 0.70% at 19,357.50 as of 8:10 a.m. IST, over 200 points above the Nifty 50's Thursday close of 19,133.25.
Asian markets advanced, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index gaining nearly 1%.
Wall Street equities rallied overnight, with key indexes gaining over 1.5%, while U.S. 10-year Treasury yields fell to a three-week low. [MKTS/GLOB]
Global stocks rose and U.S. bond yields slid after the Fed held rates steady in the 5.25%-5.50% range on Wednesday, in a less hawkish-than-expected stance on monetary policy.
"A pause with dovish commentary from the Fed on Wednesday has triggered a rebound in global and domestic market sentiment," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
India's blue-chips Nifty 50 and Sensex have gained nearly 0.5% each this week, on track to snap a two-week losing streak.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers on Thursday, offloading 12.61 billion rupees ($151.54 million) of shares on a net basis. Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth 13.80 billion rupees.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
** Tata Motors: Automaker posts rise in second-quarter profit on strong JLR sales and pick-up in volumes.
** Lupin: Drug maker announces launch of a drug used to control seizures, after receives approval from the U.S. FDA.
** NBCC: Co secures two work orders worth 2.12 billion rupees from Haryana government.
** JK Lakshmi Cement: Co approves capacity addition of existing split location grinding unit at Surat; expansion will required 2.25 billion rupees investment; also posts rise in second-quarter net profit.
($1 = 83.2140 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
