New Delhi, Mar 17 (IANS): India's key equity indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- extended their gains on Thursday from the previous session on global cues.

Policy rate hike of 25 basis points by the US Fed at its latest meeting and signs of some progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine supported investors' sentiment globally.

"The economy is very strong, and against the backdrop of an extremely tight labor market and high inflation, the Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be appropriate," Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters after the policy meeting on Wednesday.

"The Fed's monetary policy actions have been guided by our mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the American people. Our policy has been adapting to the evolving economic environment, and it will continue to do so."

At 9.58 a.m., Sensex was 1.7 per cent or 976 points up at 57,792 points, whereas Nifty 1.6 per cent or 263 points up at 17,239 points.

Coming to Nifty sectoral indices, all of them traded in the green in the opening session.

Among individual stocks, HDFC, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eicher Motors, Tata Consumers were the top five gainers among the Nifty 50 companies, rising 3.4 per cent, 3.2 per cent, 3.0 per cent, 2.6 per cent, and 2.6 per cent, respectively.

"The Fed raising rates by 25 basis points was on lines of market expectations," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"FPIs turning buyers after a long time and softness in crude will support the (Indian) market. There is upward potential in financials, particularly in high quality private banks in which FPIs were sustained sellers."