India’s equity benchmarks logged gains mainly on the heels of a spike in financial names which solidified positions after the FOMC meeting showed that the regulator thinks that the federal funds rate could be cut at the next meeting. The external news flow was upbeat as Asian stocks closed higher and European names are on the rise. Recapping the indices, the Nifty 50 advanced 1.2% to 11,831.75, while the BSE Sensex added 1.25% to 39,601.63. By 10:57 GMT, the USD/INR pair dipped 0.12% to 69.522, while EUR/INR firmed 0.51% to 78.5630. The yield on India’s 10-year debt narrowed to 6.781%. As noted above, financial stocks enjoyed strong demand, with Yes Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance soaring 11% and 9%, respectively. Among the outperformers, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise ended 1.7% higher, as the company agreed to sell more than 51% of its insurance division, Apollo Munich Health Insurance, to lender HDFC for USD 193.4 mn. IL&FS Transportation Networks и IL&FS Engineering and Construction, divisions of troubled lender IL&FS, plunged 4.8% and 3.5% after media reports that regulatory authorities launched a probe against the bank’s two executives. The daily chart shows that the BSE Sensex continues to trade near the lower line of a rising band and the lower line of Bollinger Bands. The Slow Stochastic Oscillator is set to exit overbought territory, so we expect the index to extend gains in the short term. $SENSEX, S&P BSE SENSEX INDEX / D