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The Nifty 50 index ended 0.28 per cent up at 18,660.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 0.23 per cent to 62,677.91

Indian equities edged higher on Wednesday as lower-than-expected US inflation data for November boosted investor sentiment and bets that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes.

The Nifty 50 index ended 0.28 per cent up at 18,660.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 0.23 per cent to 62,677.91.

The gains were led by banking, financial, auto and IT stocks.

“There was caution amongst the investors ahead of the US FOMC meet outcome, and traders kept a low profile by taking selective bets in metal & realty stocks,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) later in the day. However, a dovish commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell could trigger a bounce in global equities.

On the Sensex, Tech Mahindra was the star of the day, gaining 1.85 per cent. Other top gainers included Tata Steel, NTPC, SBI, IndusInd and Power Grid.

Nestle, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, HUL and UltraTech Cement closed in the red.

Nifty IT and Nifty Metal were among the top sectoral gainers, rising more than 1 per cent.

The rupee also posted its best performance against the dollar in over a month today. The rupee ended at 82.46 per dollar, up from 82.80 in the previous session.