The stock market ended higher on Wednesday with Nifty hitting a fresh record high with Sensex closed above the 75,000 mark ahead of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and US inflation data.

Sensex was up 354.45 points, or 0.47%, at 75,038.15, and the Nifty was up 111 points, or 0.49%, at 22,753.80.

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The Sensex opened 270 points higher at 74,953.96 against its previous close of 74,683.70 while the Nifty 50 opened 78 points higher at 22,720.25 against its previous close of 22,642.75.

Further, the overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on BSE rose to nearly Rs 402.2 lakh crore from nearly Rs 400 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by over Rs 2 lakh crore in a single session.

In a sector-wise analysis, most sectors ended higher, barring Nifty Pharma (down 0.34%) and Auto (down 0.06%).

Nifty Bank index closed 0.53% higher while the Nifty Media (up 1.80%), PSU Bank (up 1.53%), Oil & Gas (up 1.50%), FMCG (up 1.23%) and Metal (up 1.18%) ended with significant gains.

Experts believe that the Nifty IT index has underperformed the benchmark Nifty 50 over the last year but improving macros in the US and an indication of rate cuts may pave the way for a fresh rebound in the sector.

ICICI Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, Tata Power, Vedanta, Zomato, IndiGo, Eicher Motors, DMart and GAIL, hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE.

At Nifty 50 index, the top gainers were Coal India (3.56%), BPCL (3.46%) and ITC (2.26%). On the other hand, the shares of HDFC Life Insurance Company (2.04%), Cipla (1.68%) and Maruti Suzuki (1.65%) ended as the top losers.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.5% each.

In the global markets, the European stocks rose, buoyed by bullish news in the technology sector and higher resources prices, before key US inflation data that will provide fresh clues about the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.

The Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.6%, rebounding from Tuesday’s losses, as surging sales at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co from the boom in global AI development boosted European tech stocks.

Global equities are struggling to build on their best first quarter performance since 2019, as investors temper bets on Fed rate cuts. US economic data has remained resilient, with officials pushing back against the need for easing.

In a separate development, the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds could be launched in Hong Kong this month with the first approvals likely to be announced next week, reports said.

The US launched the first US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to track spot bitcoin in January, drawing roughly $12 billion in net inflows.